HOLLY POND – In what has become the norm for the year, the Holly Pond Broncos walked onto the court perfect and walked off the same way, and Monday night was no different as the Good Hope Raiders invaded Felton C. Easterwood Gymnasium.
After controlling the ball on the opening tip, Holly Pond immediately took the lead on a Matt Cahoon 3-point bucket, one of 12 3-pointers the Broncos hit in the game, and they never looked back. Matt Cofer scored the first points of the game for the visiting Raiders, but that was the closest Good Hope got for the rest of the contest. Holly Pond shot the lights out in the first, going on a 23-2 run that saw six different Broncos score and was highlighted by a one-handed throwdown jam by Cahoon. The scoring outburst allowed Holly Pond to build a 20-point first-quarter lead, 28-8 after the first eight minutes.
Good Hope started to find their rhythm in the second, scoring 13 led by Kallen Sharpton with six. Holly Pond countered with the sharp-shooting Drew Jones who dropped in seven of his 14 points in the second quarter. Holly Pond tacked on three more to their lead and went to the halftime break up 44-21.
Holly Pond started the second half just like the first, on fire, scoring the first 17 points of the half that included a set of threes. Cofer scored the only points for the Raiders on a nice reverse layup with just more than three minutes left to play in the third. The Broncos scored the last six of the quarter to take a 67-23 lead and head into the fourth with a hot clock for the eighth time in their first 11 games.
The Raiders had their best shooting performance in the fourth but it was not enough to overcome the fast start of Holly Pond as the Broncos improved to 11-0 on the season with a final score of 85-37. Holly Pond will next be in action Tuesday as they travel to Vinemont to take on the Eagles. The Raiders fall to 6-4 on the year and will suit up again Thursday when the travel to Dora for a matchup with the Bulldogs.
Holly Pond 61, Good Hope 50 (Girls)
Ruth Horton got the scoring going for the Lady Broncos with a quick basket just seconds into the game for two of her game-high 27 points. Good Hope answered quickly to tie the game, but on the back of threes from Horton and Molly Gambrill, the Lady Broncos went on a 9-3 run to help establish a 21-15 lead after one.
Holly Pond kept the pressure on, hitting shots from the perimeter as well as the paint, going up by as many as 16 in the quarter. Good Hope, never the team to just fade away, fought their way back into the game, but still found themselves trailing 43-32 at the half.
The third was a back and forth affair with neither team gaining much of an advantage over the other. Late in the quarter, Good Hope cut the Lady Bronco lead to just six, but Holly Pond scored the last five points of the quarter to push the lead back to 11.
The final frame was even throughout the entire eight minutes with each team scoring 10 points, giving Holly Pond the 61-50 victory. Holly Pond will look to make it two in a row when they face the Lady Eagles of Vinemont Tuesday. Good Hope will look to get back on track Thursday when they travel to Dora.
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