The Hobbton Wildcats basketball teams hosted the James Kenan Tigers in a rematch from earlier in the season on Tuesday night. The result this time around was much the same: a James Kenan win in both the boys’ and girls’ games.
Girls
James Kenan’s girls had a hard time with the Lady Wildcats in the first quarter as they only had a 2-point margin at 7-5. They went on a 10-point run in the second quarter, though, while Hobbton continued to struggle and the score at the halftime break was 17-5 in favor of thd Lady Tigers.
The Lady Wildcats struggles continued in the third quarter but they manage to keep the Lady Tigers from completely running away with the game. Hobbton succeeded in holding James Kenan to a 12-point third quarter as the score rested at 29-12 headed to the fourth quarter. Picking up nine more in the final quarter against only four for the Lady Wildcats, James Kenan got a 38-16 win.
Leading the scoring for the Lady Tigers was Nora Williams with 15 points. Emma Avent had 12 and Azzaiah Harvey finished with five.
For Hobbton, Marrisa Bell had six while Gracie Jones and Jayla Wilkes had three each.
“Our first half intensity didn’t match our second half,” said Hobbton coach Jose Garcia. “We started off really good in the first half. We kept it on top playing hard but the shots just weren’t falling, though we were getting opportunities. It’s a big improvement over our game against Midway. I had a conversation with the James Kenan coach. He told me one thing I told the girls tonight, ‘Never let up.’ They didn’t give up. They played all the way to the end. I’m proud of them. We are just going to have to look forward to Trask. My hat’s off to James Kenan and the program they have going. We will continue to play Hobbton Basketball.”
Boys
James Kenan’s boy got the best of the Wildcats, 66-38. After Jaelyn Holliday went coast to coast ending with a stuff that electrified the crowd, James Kenan got down to business in taking a 10-point lead at 18-10 at the end of the first quarter. The Wildcats and the Tigers answered each other’s point in the second quarter but James Kenan scored eight while Hobbton picked up just six. A couple of points in the second quarter the Wildcats had cut the Tigers margin to 8 points but the half time score was at double digits at 26-16.
Then, the second half was all James Kenan. The Tigers scored 18 points in the third quarter while the Wildcats managed to get just nine. In the final frame, James Kenan poured on 22 more points while Hobbton got 14, reaching the final tally of 66-38.
For the victorious Tigers, James Matthews, Prince Lee and Antonio Smith had 10 points each.
Jordan Pearsall had 11 for the Wildcats and Holliday had nine.
“I feel like against James Kenan, especially after the first game, we made a big improvement,” commented Hobbton coach Jeffrey Lane. “This is a work in progress. We are trying to turn some things around. But, I was really pleased with their effort. That’s been the thing I have stressed all year…effort. Skills, fundamentals, things like that we are working on and that will get better as time goes on. I can see a little light at the end of the tunnel after this one.”
The Wildcats travel to Heide Trask Friday for their next game.
