GOOD HOPE, Ala. – The Good Hope Raiders and Lady Raiders hosted their home openers against Decatur Heritage Friday night, and both collected home wins over the Eagles. In the girls’ game, Good Hope jumped out to a huge lead and never gave it up on the way to a 55-20 win. In the boys’ matchup, the Raiders held a double-digit lead in the third quarter and had to hold off a furious comeback from Decatur Heritage to win the game 84-78.
Good Hope 55 – Decatur Heritage 20 (Varsity Girls)
A quick layup by Rudi Derrick put Good Hope on the scoreboard first, then Lexi Collins added one of her own to make it 4-0. Decatur Heritage got on the board on a pair of free throws, but Ivey Maddox converted an and-one opportunity to make it 8-2. Charly Johnson hit a pair of free throws, then Derrick and Bailey Tetro each hit a trey to push their lead to 16-2 and the Lady Raiders would take an 18-4 lead into the second period.
The second period was more of the same as Good Hope continued to add onto their lead. A basket by Derrick, a three by Bailey Tetro and a Jolee McHan layup made it 26-4. Consecutive threes by Maddox pushed their lead to 32-4 and the Lady Raiders held the Lady Eagles to just one basket in the first half as they took a commanding 34-4 lead into the half.
The second half saw more of the same from Good Hope on both sides of the ball as all but one player ended up finding the scoring column and their suffocating defense gave the Lady Eagles fits all game. The Lady Raiders went on to defeat Decatur Heritage 55-20 to improve to 3-0 on the young season.
Maddox finished with 13 points for Good Hope. Derrick and Bailey Tetro each added 11 points. Heather Tetro and McHan each ended up with six.
Good Hope 84 – Decatur Heritage 78 (Varsity Boys)
An offensive rebound and putback by Tyler Cone saw Good Hope get on the scoreboard first, then later on, Colton Lindsey got a shot to fall down low to give the Raiders an early 4-3 lead. K’mal Bell and Lindsey each added a shot down low to push Good Hope’s lead to 9-3, then a Bell three with 4:01 left to play in the opening period made it 12-5. A Weston Hancock trey increased their lead to 15-7, but Decatur Heritage finished the quarter strong as they scored the final seven points to cut it to 15-14 going into the second period.
The Eagles scored five of the first seven points in the second quarter to take a 19-17 lead. A basket down low by Hancock gave the Raiders the lead right back at 20-19, then later on, back-to-back baskets by Jacob Haynes made it 24-21. Haynes and Cone each knocked down a long-range shot with a little over two minutes to go in the first half as that pushed their lead to 31-26. A three by the Eagles cut it to 34-33, but a Bell basket made it 36-33 and Good Hope would take a slim 36-34 lead into the locker room.
The Raiders came out red-hot shooting the ball to start out the second half. Hancock scored down low, and Bell knocked down a trey to increase their lead to 41-34. Hancock added another basket down low and hit a three to push their lead to 46-39. Hancock continued his hot shooting as he put in another shot to make it 48-41, then a Haynes trey made it 51-42. The Eagles made a quick run to cut the deficit to 53-48, but it was Bell’s turn to get red-hot as he hit a pair of threes and added a layup to make it a 61-49 game going into the final period.
Haynes put in a floater to make it 63-50 early in the fourth quarter. Cone hit another three and Dakota Overton put in a shot down low to increase the Raider lead to 68-52. Decatur Heritage, though, countered with a huge run of their own as a 12-3 spurt by the Eagles cut the Good Hope lead to 71-64. Haynes and Bell each hit a pair of free throws to make it 75-64, but the Eagles scored the next five points to swivel the deficit to just six at 75-69 with 2:32 left to go in the game. A basket down low by Lindsey and a pair of Overton free throws made it 81-69, but a pair of Eagle treys cut it to 81-75. A free throw by Bell and a layup by Hancock helped seal the deal for the Raiders as they ended up taking the game in an offensive shootout over Decatur Heritage, 84-78.
Bell finished the contest with a game-high 25 points and five steals. for Good Hope (2-0). Hancock added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Haynes ended up with 15 points and five rebounds. Cone ended up with nine points and six rebounds, while Lindsey added nine points and eight rebounds. The Lady Raiders will go to Hartselle to participate in the Thanksgiving Tournament on the 22nd and 23rd.
The Raiders will go to Spain Park to take part in their Thanksgiving Tournament on the 21st-23rd. Good Hope’s next regular season game will be on Nov. 29 at home against Vinemont.
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