By Bart Moss / For the FCT

The last time Tharptown and Hackleburg met two weeks ago, seemingly everything went right for the Panthers and everything went wrong for the Wildcats. The result was a runaway victory for Hackleburg.

Friday night at Hackleburg, Tharptown had a chance to avenge that loss – and they did, winning 54-39.

Edward Lopez pulled down 17 rebounds to help the Wildcats to the win.

A slightly different strategy also played a role in the win. The Wildcats decided to step out of character and slow the game down.

“We can’t get into a run-and-gun game with many teams,” said Tharptown coach Shannon Benford. “We have to play smart basketball. We have to run our offense, move the basketball around and be patient for high-percentage shots.”

The strategy worked, as the Wildcats picked up the critical area win.

Levi McCormack led Tharptown with 14 points. Cole Daniel and Misael Saldana followed with 12 points each. Lopez finished with nine points, Aaron Creasy with five points and Skyler Fields with two points.

Tharptown 53, Cherokee 44

Daniel scored 24 points to lead the Tharptown Wildcats past the Cherokee Indians 53-44 last week.

The Wildcats outpaced Cherokee 17-11 in the first quarter and extended their lead to 28-21 by halftime. The Wildcats added to their lead in the third quarter, outscoring Cherokee 13-12 to take a 41-33 led into the final period.

McCormack followed Daniel with 12 points. Saldana finished the game with seven points, Lopez and Winston Nolen scored four points each, and Carson Petree scored two points.