ARLEY – Getting control of the fourth quarter by a 22-7 advantage, the Good Hope Raiders remain undefeated one week into the new basketball season. The Raiders took down the Meek Tigers 66-49 Monday night, thanks to a defense that allowed two field goals in the final 8:00, plus a deadly offensive combo in Matt Cofer and Kallen Sharpton combining for 43 points.
Meek gave the Raiders everything they could handle for the first three quarters with Good Hope ahead by the score of 44-42.
The Tigers got a field goal early in the period from John Abercrombie and did not hit another shot until the final 15 seconds.
Good Hope forced the Tigers to alter their driving shots in the final period with Sharpton blocking a few and getting good help near the basket from Cofer, Matt Dixon, Isaac McDonald and Blake Lyle.
Sharpton was sharp in the final period for rookie coach Drew Adams. The big man delivered 12 points to finish with 20 after he was shut down in the third period and spent a good part of that sequence on the bench.
He made up for lost time and supported the 23 points from Cofer who burned the Tiger defense with eight field goals between the second and third periods.
Knowing the Tigers would challenge the Raiders, who started last week with wins in the Vinemont Tip-Off Tournament and a buzzer-beater victory at Danville, Good Hope gained an early lead that was erased by the Tigers coming back with a couple of long-distance shots and the game was even at 12-12 following the first stanza.
Cofer took over the scoring duties in the second with four made baskets while Sharpton pitched in with a couple and 3-pointers from Mason Moniz and Josh Cofer enabled the Raiders to head to the locker room with a 34-26 advantage.
Cofer was the only positive for the Good Hope offense in the third as he drove his way for four more field goals.
But the Raiders were outscored 16-10 by the Tigers with Jacob Woodard having the hot hand by hitting for seven and the home unit was within a bucket after the third at 44-42.
Sharpton became the target the Raiders looked for and responded in the final 8:00 by knocking down three shots, one trey and was five of six from the line to keep Good Hope undefeated one week into the season.
The Raiders have now won games in Cullman County with two at Vinemont, one in Morgan County at Danville and the Monday night triumph in Winston County vs. Meek.
Good Hope's defense was bold with the Tigers unable to score in the fourth from long range and just getting two shots for the quarter, not scoring a field goal for over six and a half minutes.
Moniz and McDonald added eight to the scoring total for the Raiders while Josh Cofer had three, Cohen White and Dixon two each.
Meek fell to 0-2 with Ian Sargent scoring 14 and Woodard hitting for 12.
The Raiders will finally get to play in front of the crowd at D.E. Ryan Gymnasium when they host the Vinemont Eagles Friday evening.
Good Hope 50, Meek 25 (Girls):
New coach Amanda Swann earned her first varsity victory with the Lady Raiders pitching a shutout by the score of 12-0 eight minutes into the game.
Point guard Kelly Pickett set the tone for the Lady Raiders early with three field goals while she had support from field goals by Savanna Derrick and Kate Kent and free throws from Alex Stansell.
But something that hurt the Lady Raiders all evening, kept the Lady Tigers in striking distance. Good Hope missed 13 shots from right around the basket, seven in the opening half.
The missed opportunities kept the game tight with Meek trailing at halftime 24-11.
Holding on to a double-digit advantage, the Lady Raiders never let Meek push them to a serious challenge. It was 37-20 when time ran out in the third period.
The Lady Raiders clamped down on the Lady Tigers, letting them get two field goals in the final 8:00 and pulling away as Kent drove toward the hoop with three fourth-quarter field goals and Good Hope had its record even at 1-1.
Pickett was sharp with a 17-point performance in the first win of the Swann era. Kent, back to good health after missing most of the volleyball season, tossed in 12, Sadie Abbott and Stansell netted eight with Derrick delivering four and Kyler Hembree one.
Meek is 0-2 on the season with the Lady Tigers to play at Curry Tuesday night in their first road game of the season. Jayden Waldrep led the Lady Tigers with nine, Savanna Banks chipped in with seven.
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