The HoCo basketball teams hosted Lee Co on Tuesday and the result was the Lady Bears getting smothered 61-22 and the Bears losing their first region game in a close battle that came down to the final buzzer. The girls’ game was all Lee Co from the start as the Lady Trojans led 36-9 at halftime and would go on to win 61-22 in a game that included a six minute fourth quarter.
Sameena Khan led HoCo in scoring with 5 points while the Lady Trojans were led in scoring by Camya Hutcherson with 23 points and Hutcherson eclipsed 1,000 career points scored in the contest. The Lady Bears remain winless on the season as they drop to 0-20 overall; 0-8 in region play.
The boys’ game would be led by the host throughout most of the game as they scored the game’s first eight points and would led 36-25 at halftime. The Black, Silver, and White would push it’s lead to 13 points in the third quarter before the Trojans would start eating into the deficit and would trail 48-45 after three quarters of play.
The visitors would take a slim lead that would lead to a handful of lead changes down the stretch. Lee Co led 64-61 with just under two seconds remaining and Josiah Franklin went to the Dozier Law Firm free throw line with a chance to put the game to bed however; he missed both from the charity stripe to keep the Bears alive.
HoCo’s Karon Plummer would throw in the ball with 1.2 seconds remaining over to Braylin Mills who in turn found Malik Gillespie for the potential game-tying National Exterminating half-court three-point field goal at the buzzer but the ball hit the right side of the rim and bounced to the left and the shot was no good and Lee Co got the 64-61 victory to split the regular season series.
Josh Jackson led the Black, Silver, and White in scoring with 19 points followed by Malik Gillespie with 13 points, and Braylin Mills with 12 points. Lee Co was led in scoring by Trecori Green with 30 points. Despite the loss, the Bears get the tie-breaker over Lee Co by virtue of their four point road win over the Trojans last Friday that gives them the score differential of +1 in the series.
HoCo will be the #1 seed in the region tournament with either a win over TCC on Saturday or a Lee Co loss to Northside next Tuesday. The Bears fall to 16-6 overall; 7-1 in region play.
