GOOD HOPE– In the last game of the 2016-17 basketball regular season, the Good Hope Raiders had their homecoming as they welcomed the Hanceville Bulldogs to town.
It was the RJ Evans show early in the first. Evans was a force inside and outside, personally taking the Bulldogs on an 8-0 run that forced an early Raider timeout. Out of the break, Evans added to the Hanceville lead as well as his own as he drained his third three of the quarter. Zeke McDonald was the first Bulldog to score outside of Evans when he hit a three from the top in the midst of the Hanceville 18-0 run. Isaac McDonald broke the Good Hope scoreless streak with a three of his own with less than two minutes left in the first. Kallen Sharpton added a bucket late but the Raiders still trailed 18-5 heading into the second.
With the starters on the bench and a fresh pair of legs in the game, Good Hope found their rhythm, hitting open shots and cleaning the glass. However, the Bulldogs kept pace and ended the half on a 5-0 run to take a 31-20 lead to the locker room.
Just like Evans in the first half, Hanceville started the second half with a run; this time it was a 6-0 run by Fred Ellis that put the Bulldogs up 16 and prompted a Good Hope timeout. Out of the break, Good Hope, specifically Matt Dixon, had seven straight points followed by a steal and an assist to pull the Raiders to within five. The teams traded points for the rest of the quarter with Good Hope trailing 41-36 going to the final frame.
The fourth was a flurry of action. Good Hope started the final eight minutes with a basket but Hanceville immediately answered with a pair of free throws. From there Hanceville and Good Hope spent the rest of the quarter trading points. The action on the floor was even, but the game was won by Hanceville at the free throw line. Good Hope was just 2-of-7 from the stripe in the fourth while Hanceville was 10-of-14. This advantage gave Hanceville the cushion they needed to win the game 57-49.
Hanceville 43, Good Hope 41 (Girls)
After senior Sadie Abbott won the 2016-17 basketball homecoming queen crown, it was time for she and the Lady Raiders to go to work.
Abbott quickly put Good Hope on the board with a short jumper from just outside the paint. The Lady Bulldogs retaliated with six unanswered from Brooke Barnett and Keirra Merriweather before Savanna Derrick sank a pair of free throws for the Lady Raiders to break a two-minute scoring drought. Those were the last points they scored in the quarter, as the Lady Bulldogs closed the quarter on a 5-0 run to take a 10-4 lead after one full quarter of play.
As cold as Good Hope was in the first, they were equally as hot in the second. Kate Kent hit an easy basket in the paint to open the second, and the flood gates. Thanks to Kent, Abbott and Leyton Seal, the Lady Raiders went on a 9-0 run to take a 13-10 lead and force a Hanceville timeout. They continued to play hard out of the 30-second break and on the strength of eight points, four rebounds and a block by Kent; the Lady Raiders took a 24-14 lead to the half.
Good Hope started the second half like they ended the first, with points, but Hanceville was not going to go away. The Lady Bulldogs put together a 6-0 run to cut the Good Hope lead to five. The Lady Raiders held strong, but a late flourish by the Lady Bulldogs pulled them to within three points before a last-second basket by Kent pushed the lead back to five heading to the fourth.
With a quick five points to open the fourth, Hanceville tied the game within the first minute of the final frame. They took the lead with 5:70 left to play on a Howell three that prompted a Good Hope timeout. Seal hit 1-of-2 free throws out of the break to tie the score, but Hanceville responded with four unanswered to make it a two-possession game. The score went back and forth with both teams fighting for the win.
Down by two but with the ball under the basket, Good Hope got a look at the final shot with 2.4 left to play, but the shot went off the right iron to seal the win for Hanceville, 43-41.
Copyright 2017 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
