Hughes takes 2 hard falls, wills team to win over Georgiana

Straughn senior guard Hobie Hughes had two big falls in Saturday’s tournament championship against Georgiana, but his will and determination won out to help lead the Tigers to a 52-45 victory over the Panthers.

Hughes’ first fall came with 6:41 left in the third period with SHS leading 26-18.

Jasper Bowdoin added a 3-pointer to give the Tigers (3-0) a nine-point advantage, but without Hughes on the floor, Georgiana made a surge and came to within three points at 29-26 with time ticking away in the third period.

Georgiana got its first lead of the game at 32-31 on a drive and easy layup from Patrick McCord.

Straughn answered as JD Driver got a layup on the other end.

The Tigers then took a 36-32 lead with 30 seconds after Brice Scott drained a 3-pointer.

The Straughn bench breathed a sigh of relief when Hughes trudged back in the game at the start of the fourth.

“He came back and played through (the pain),” SHS coach Rusty Andrews said. “That’s a sign of maturity.”

He was visibly still in pain from the lower-back stinger, but quickly got back in action as he made a nice inside pass to Devin Scott to give SHS a six-point lead at 38-32.

Driver later got a putback off of his own rebound to make it 40-34, and Brice Scott got in a jumper to — at the time — put the game away for the Panthers at 42-34.

Hughes’ second fall came with about five minutes left in the game, and the tall presence for the Tigers had to sit out for the remainder.

With Hughes out, the Panthers took advantage, driving the lain and getting crucial buckets to put the game at 44-42 with about 2:30 left on the clock.

More than a minute later, McCord dished up another bucket to bring the game to 47-45.

Brice Scott answered with a 1-and-1 and Rollin Kinsaul made the front-end of a pair to give SHS a 50-45 advantage.

Brice and Kinsaul scored Straughn’s final two points of the game at the line.

Andrews said in the three games his team has played so far, he hasn’t seen a complete game.

“We’ve played three good quarters and have had one bad quarter,” Andrews said. “We’re still doing that. We haven’t put a complete game together yet. That’s what we’re looking for. I’m proud of the effort. We couldn’t have asked anything more from the boys.”

The Tigers led 16-6 after the first period and 24-18 at halftime.

Tournament MVP Brice Scott led the Tigers with 18 points. Driver chipped in 12 points.

The Tigers are back in action tonight at home against Pleasant Home.

Red Level 63, Florala 32

Red Level outscored Florala 28-14 in the second half on its way to a third place finish at Straughn’s annual Christmas tournament.

RLS led 22-6 after the first period and led 35-18 at halftime.

“We played a little better defensively,” RLS coach Allen Catrett said. “We’ve got to get in on Monday and get ready for Enterprise (today).”

KJ Lawrence led RLS with 19 points. Justin Maddox chipped in 12 points. Dee Tolbert had 11 points. Tim Sims added 10 points.

Florala’s John Bess had 15 points. Austin McNeill had eight.

RLS travels to face Enterprise in action tonight.

Pleasant Home 42, New Brockton 39 in OT

The game was tied 34-34 at the end of regulation, and the Eagles came out on fire in overtime.

Lance Davis started the scoring for PHS by getting an old-fashioned three-point play with 3:11 left in the period.

NBHS answered with a drive to cut the game to 37-36.

Pleasant Home’s Chase Gunter threw in a 3-pointer and later got a steal and passed to teammate Jon Cole Chesser and the Eagles led 42-36 just like that.

The Gamecocks weren’t going away easily, as they added another 3-pointer to cut the game to its final at 42-39.

After a timeout by NBHS, Pleasant Home’s Troy Fantroy got a key block on the defensive end and the Eagles got the ball back with 40 seconds left.

New Brockton got two good looks from the perimeter, Davis missed a shot and got a rebound while getting fouled on the next offensive possession for the Eagles.

Davis missed the 1-and-1, and the Gamecocks got the ball back as they aimed for a 3-pointer on the other end.

“We had three opportunities in the last 25 seconds to put the game away,” PHS coach Jerry Davis said. “When it comes down to it, you can say we dodged a bullet.”

NBHS threw up three tries from the perimeter, but none went in as PHS got away with the win.

Lance Davis led the Eagles with a double-double (16 points, 12 rebounds), and Chesser had 10 points.

Marquise Neal led NBHS with 19 points.

Pleasant Home’s Lance Davis; Florala’s John Bess; Red Level’s KJ Lawrence and Tim Sims; Straughn’s Hobie Hughes, JD Driver and Brice Scott were selected to the All Tournament team.