Red Devils hold off Hackleburg
By Staff
Mike Self, FCT Sports Editor
VINA – Vina boys basketball coach Sonny Tibbs is trying to do more than just win games. He's laying the groundwork for a winning culture.
A few more games like Monday's showdown with rival Hackleburg will help him do just that.
The Red Devils used an early 13-0 run to build a big first-half lead and then survived a late Hackleburg rally with clutch free throw shooting down the stretch, holding on to beat the Panthers 51-43.
"I've heard some people make the comment that Vina doesn't know how to win, that they've been losing for so long now that they expect to lose," said Tibbs, in his second season as head coach. "We talked about that tonight at halftime and again after the game was over. I thought our kids did a great job of keeping their composure when Hackleburg made their run."
The Panthers, who trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half, trimmed the lead to 45-43 on a three-pointer by Derek Sweeney with 2:25 remaining.
Hackleburg would not score again, and B.J. Beard, Brent Townsend and Morgan McCarley each made a pair of free throws over the final two minutes to seal the win.
"We missed a lot of free throws in the second and third quarter, but our guys-especially our young kids-really stepped up and made them down the stretch when it mattered most," Tibbs said.
Senior post players Anthony Hester, Tony Jennings and Patrick Cochran led a strong effort on the boards by Vina. Cochran finished with a team-high nine rebounds, and Hester had eight boards to go along with his 10 points. Jennings chipped in with eight points and eight rebounds.
"I thought we did a really good job on the boards tonight," Tibbs said. "We forced them to shoot from the perimeter, and we didn't let them have too many second shots.
"We also took better care of the ball tonight. We've been averaging between 15 and 20 turnovers a game, but tonight we only had six. That was huge."
Hackleburg jumped out to a 9-5 lead to open the game, but McCarley scored eight points in a 10-0 run by the Red Devils to close the first quarter.
A free throw by Jennings and a basket by Blake Thorn capped off the run and made it 18-9 early in the second quarter.
The lead grew to 25-13 on a basket by Hester before the Panthers closed the half on a 12-6 run.
"Before the game tonight, we really preached shot selection," Tibbs said. "We talked about making the extra pass and not settling for a shot with a hand in our face. I thought we did a good job of moving the ball around and getting some good looks in the first half.
"In the second half, they did a better job of mixing up their pressure, and they made it a little tougher on us. We had a bad third quarter, but I thought we found our groove again in the fourth quarter."
Hackleburg trimmed the lead to 31-30 on a three-pointer by Aaron Bishop midway through the third, but Hester had a pair of baskets in an 8-1 run by Vina to close the quarter.
McCarley finished with 10 points, and Townsend had eight. Beard added seven, and Thorn had six.
Bishop had 16 points to lead Hackleburg, and Sweeney added 14.
Vina was scheduled to host area rival Covenant Christian on Tuesday. The Red Devils will play at Phillips on Thursday.
