VINEMONT – It was senior night for the Vinemont Eagles as they took on the visiting Good Hope Raiders, but things did not go as planned as Good Hope ended up sweeping the Eagles.
Vinemont got the scoring started on a layup by Seth Campbell and added a three by Garrett Boland off a Good Hope turnover to jump out to a quick 5-0 lead. Kallen Sharpton got Good Hope on the board with a three of his own from the right corner, and then went 1-of-2 from the line to cut the lead to 5-4. Corbin Barnett, Boland and Jay Blanton helped force seven Raider turnovers in the opening quarter, and finished the quarter on a 14-6 run as Barnett drilled two threes, Boland added another three, and Blanton went 3-of-4 from the line, and that helped the Eagles take a 19-10 lead after one.
The second quarter saw each team get really sloppy from the start with turnovers, but Nathaniel England got Vinemont back on track with a layup after grabbing the offensive rebound to push the Vinemont lead to 21-10 with 6:23 remaining in the first half. But in this quarter, it was the Raiders who turned it on on both sides as they forced the Eagles into three turnovers, altering their shots with great defense and going on a 8-0 run to cut the lead to 21-18 with 3:14 remaining. Lyle added a three to tie the game at 21. Then Isaac McDonald drilled back-to-back threes sandwiched around an England layup and Good Hope took a 27-23 lead into the locker room. They forced six Eagle turnovers in the quarter while turning the ball over just twice themselves.
Good Hope stretched their lead to 31-24 after a pair of layups by Sharpton. Then Lyle nailed a three off another Vinemont turnover to make it a double-digit lead at 34-24. The hustle by Matt Dixon on the rebounding side helped them take a 38-26 lead after layups by both him and McDonald, but Vinemont cut the lead to 38-30 on a free throw and a three by England.
Free throws by Cohen White and Michael Lowe pushed the lead back to double-digits at 40-30. Barnett hit a layup to cut the lead to 40-32, but that was the closest they got as Sharpton hit four free throws and a layup, and Matt Cofer hit a three from the right corner to help Good Hope snap a four-game losing streak. They improve to 13-11 on the season.
Sharpton finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and a steal for Good Hope. Lyle added 12 points, three rebounds and four steals. McDonald ended up with eight points, five rebounds, three steals and a block. Cofer added six points, eight rebounds and three steals. Dixon had nine rebounds and a steal as his hustle on the glass helped in the win. They will head back home to take on Hanceville in their regular season finale.
"January was a rough month for us. We were in a lot of tough, close games," Good Hope coach Drew Adams said. "We needed to get off to a good start and it was a nightmare at the start. My guys could have quit, but they did not and I'm really proud of them. We do need to shoot the ball better."
Barnett finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three steals for Vinemont. Boland ended up with nine points, six rebounds and a pair of steals. England had eight points, three rebounds and two steals. They will play next Tuesday in the area tournament at Hanceville.
Good Hope 68, Vinemont 26 (Girls)
Good Hope got off to a quick start and never let Vinemont in the game as they went on to the easy win.
They led 17-5 after one, 43-15 at the half and 58-23 after three.
Kate Kent led Good Hope with 18 points. Leyton Seal was not far behind with 15 points. Savanna Derrick added 13 and Erika Woodall finished with nine. They will finish the regular season at home against Hanceville tomorrow night.
Sadie Stanley finished with 12 points for Vinemont. They will start off the area tournament on Monday at Carbon Hill.
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