HOLLY POND – It was a banner night for the Holly Pond Broncos as seniors Dawson Foust, Matt Cahoon, Drew Jones, Tanner Duke, Jacob Jones, Andrew Shaw, Michael Lambert and Bailey Smith took the floor at the Pond for the last time as Broncos, and did they ever make the most if it, taking out the Carbon Hill Bulldogs by a score of 123-50.
“Seven of these guys have been in our program since seventh grade, Andrew Shaw moved in,” Holly Pond head coach Mitch Morris said about his special group of seniors. “This is the most seniors I have had in a team and they are all special. It has been a great joy being with them the last four years, seeing them develop and seeing them mesh together. They get along and they love each other so much. They care for each other and they want each other to be successful. It has been just a joy to watch.”
With it being the last time the Broncos seniors would suit up in their home gym, the cheerleaders and fans lined the court with a spirit line to welcome the Broncos to the floor. After the pre-game festivities, it was business as usual for the green and white.
After Cahoon won the tip for the Broncos for the 31st straight time this season, Foust hit an easy lay-up open the game. The Carbon Hill Bulldogs answered with an easy basket from Hunter Nesmith. Drew Jones glided through the lane on the next Bronco possession, kissing it off the glass to put Holly Pond back on top. The Broncos cleared the boards on the other end of the floor, leading to an alley-oop from Smith to Cahoon, who threw it down two-handed to make the score 6-2. This was as close as Carbon Hill got for the rest of the game. With points by Griffin Morris, Caleb Jones, Smith and Shaw, the Broncos went on a tear, going up 34-11 after one.
It got a bit chippy in the second, with some hard hits and some frustration as 37 fouls were called in the first half, but the Broncos stayed the course and owned it. They put up a staggering 72 points in the first half, shattering the old Bronco record for most points in a half. Holly Pond 72, Carbon Hill 31 at the half.
Holly Pond opened the third on a 12-2 run. The points continued to pour in for the Broncos and at the 2:02 mark, Duke hit a jumper to roll the scoreboard over to 100 for the third straight game. Caleb Jones closed out the quarter with four straight to give the Broncos a 104-37 lead going to the fourth.
With 1:20 left to play in the fourth quarter, Morris drained a pair of free throws to move the score to 119-44, breaking the all-time Broncos single-game scoring record for the second time in three games. The Broncos went on to finish the game by a final of 123-50.
“That’s a great feeling,” Morris said of getting past the sub-regional round, where the Bronco season has ended the last two years. “Coming into (tonight’s game), I was thinking back to the last two years where we have been in this same spot and for some reason we didn’t win those ballgames, so I was nervous all day. I felt confident about our team but I was nervous. When we jumped out to the early lead like we did in the first quarter, it started to ease up a little bit,” Morris said with a smile.
The next time Holly Pond hits the hardwood will be Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Wallace State Community College versus Lauderdale County in the 3A Northwest Regional.
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