What a difference two weeks makes! Better yet, what a difference it makes that the guys who were on the gridiron for Jonesboro-Hodge the last time Weston and the Tigers faced off two weeks ago, were on the basketball court this time.
In actual numbers the difference is 76 points. That is derived from J-H walloping Weston 85-19 this past Friday night after losing their season opener to the Wolves by ten. Add the total difference in points of the two and you get 76 (66+10) in point differential.
Unbreakable record! The exact dates and last time it was done, if it was done, was not available but at the very least the ZERO points J-H allowed in the first quarter ties a record that can never be broken. Combining that with the five points the Tigers gave up in the second half (3 in the third and 2 in the fourth) the rematch was no match.
Downtown discrepancies! Perhaps the telling statistic of the night can be found by looking no further than what went on downtown. Led by Ajay Tew, who paced the Tigers in scoring with fifteen, going a perfect 3 for 3 from three point land the Tigers shot an impressive 55.6% from down town on the strength of 10 of 18 shooting. Conversely Weston made only 2 of 22 attempts.
Transitioning Turnovers! With a full roster of 15 players at his disposal this time around, compared to the eight he had on the roster in the prior meeting, Tiger head coach Allen Tew was able to unleash wave after wave of ball hawks that feasted on 26 Weston turnovers. As result the Tigers outscored Weston 38-4 in transition points and even more impressively scored 32 points off of turnovers without allowing a single basket.
Dandy Dozen! Tew was the only Tigers to reach double figures but Javeon Andrews was close with nine and five others had eight each as J-H had a season best 12 player’s score. LaJavion Nichols, Justin Calahan, Edward “Robbie” Kary, Zion Gray and Tydre Malone all ended with eight apiece, Cornelius Boston had seven and both Devontae Mozee and Cameron Leonard finished with four. Savantez Phillips basket rounded out the scoring for the Tigers.
Holt gets no help! Jace Holt hit 7 of 15 shots and both Weston three pointers to post a game high 16 points. This was just three points shy of the team total as the rest of the team made only 1 shot in 35 attempts that included going 0 for 20 from behind the arc.
JHHS (2-1) 22 30 17 16 – 85
WHS (4-7) 0 14 3 2 – 19
JHHS scoring: Tew 15, Andrews 9, Nichols 8, Calahan 8, Kary 8,Gray 8, Malone 8, Boston 7, Mozee 4, Leonard 4, Phillips 2
WHS scoring: Holt 16, Theriot 2, Mathews 1
Weston 64 Dodson 56
Weston extracted little revenge of their own when they beat visiting Dodson by eight points just three days after Dodson had won by three at their place. Once again it was Jace Holt, who is becoming one of north Louisiana’s premier scoring threats, leading the way with 31 points. Davis Tolar also stepped up big with 19 points after making five bombs from behind the arc.
Mitchel Mathews hit a pair of treys for six points while Eli McBride made three, Cooper Harvey and Landon Roberts two and Brandon Theriot one to round out the Weston scoring. Caleb Barton led Dodson (1-1) with 24 points followed by Xaiden Hall with 20. Beau Canter added six, Nathaniel Evans had three and Caden Potts one for the Panthers who stands at 1-1 on the year after splitting the pair with Weston.
WHS 19 14 19 12 – 64
DHS 14 12 15 15 – 56
WHS scoring: Holt 31, Tolar 19, Mathews 6, McBride 3, Harvey 2, Roberts 2, Theriot 1
DHS scoring: Barton 24, Hall 20, Canter 6, Evans 3, Potts 1
Quitman 65 D’Arbonne Woods 52
Class B Quitman is making a case in the early season going of being a strong contender in district 1-2A. Less than a week ago they took Jonesboro-Hodge to double overtime before falling by three. This past Friday they dominated another 1-2A opponent, D’Arbonne Woods, 65-52 to win their fifth game in six tries.
Big John! He may be small in stature but guard John Pabaya stood tallest of them all in regard to “making it rain”. The junior sharpshooter set new season and career bests with five, 3-pointers and a team high 17 points. Four of the trey’s came in the first half as Quitman went up 30-22 and never ooked back
Total team effort! Without question Quitman head coach Mike Black was pleased to see Pabaya step up but what was most pleasing to the first year coach was the total team effort that goes down as the most consistent of the year. Cooper Williams (15) and Ethan Everett (12) also posted season best’s while Joshua Smith added 11 to give Quitman four players tally in double digits.
In all eight Wolverines made their mark in the scorebook as Landon Roberts chipped in with four and L.D. Manning, Blake Carter and Shane Rowe all added two each.
Solo act! D’Arbonne Woods lost for the fourth time in a row and the fifth in six games to continue to struggle as a team but few in north Louisiana has a starring solo act like the Timberwolves. Austin Riley scored 36 for DWC including all of their points but two in the second quarter and one in the final frame.
QHS (5-1) 14 16 18 17 – 65
DWC (1-5) 7 15 15 15 – 52
QHS scoring: Pabaya 17, Williams 15, Evetrett 12, Smith 11, Roberts 4, Manning 2, Carter 2, Rowe 2
DWC scoring: Riser 36, Davis 6, Auger 5, Todroz 5