Hornet Win Streak Ends at Lawson
The Hamilton Hornets were riding a 14 game win streak heading into their KCI matchup against the Cardinals at Lawson last Friday night, but Lawson Coach Brad Smith had his team ready to avenge a loss to Coach Rick Ross and the Hornets in the Lawson Tournament Championship game just 3 weeks prior.
With the score tied at 13 and 2:25 left in the first quarter, Telly Harper was whistled for his 2nd foul, and would set out the remainder of the first half. Wesley Pratt hit a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Hamilton a 20-16 lead after one quarter of play. Penney would build a ten point lead, 26-16, one minute 47 seconds into the 2nd quarter when the Cardinals called time out. Lawson would cut the Hamilton lead to six, 32-26, before the Hornets called time out with 2:26 remaining in the half.
The second half started with the score knotted at 32, but by the time Penney called time out with 2:39 on the 3rd quarter clock, the Cardinals had a 50-41 advantage. The 4th quarter began with Lawson leading 57-44. With 3:44 left in the game, the Cardinals called time out and leading 65-54. Lawson maintained an eleven point lead, 73-62, with two minutes to go, and again with one minute left in the game, 78-67, as they went on to win 81-72.
Latroy Harper led all scorers with 33, followed by Jaran Richman's 13, 7 for Telly Harper and Mason McFall, and 6 for Pratt and Korby Ford. The Hornets made 17 of 24 free throw attempts, and hit six three pointers in the contest (Latroy-2, Richman-2, Pratt-1, Ford-1). The Cardinals were led by Cody Glenn with 22 and Tanner Smith's 20. Lawson hit 21 of 26 free throws and made six 3-pointers.
Penney High enters the final two weeks of the regular season with a 15-3 record, and tied with Lawson, East Buchanan, and Mid Buchanan for first place in the KCI with a 3-1 conference record, and home games against East and Mid Buchanan this week.
The Class 2, District 16 Tournament in Maysville is scheduled for February 22nd through 27th with the winner of the Hamilton vs. Mid Buchanan game on February 12th likely to be the number 1 seed.
