Who was that team wearing the green and white Tuesday night? The uniforms said “Huntsville,” but for most of the game, the effort hardly resembled the Hornet team that has won three district championships in a row.
For two-plus periods, Oak Ridge outhustled and outplayed the Hornets. Huntsville turned the ball over 17 times and fell behind by 20 points.
The Hornets (1-3) cranked up their defense midway through the third quarter, but it proved to be too late. The War Eagles weathered a storm and went home with a 58-52 win.
“We got outcoached, we got outplayed offensively and we got outplayed defensively. And free throws — free throws have cost us three games,” said Larry Carlson, Huntsville’s frustrated head coach. “We shot 50 percent (9-18) from the free-throw line again tonight. Oak Ridge hit 13 of 18 from the line. That was the difference.”
Missed free throws did not help, but there were other factors. Huntsville, which has lost three in a row since blowing out Lufkin in the season opener, struggled Tuesday on both ends of the floor. The Hornets only scored six points in the first quarter and had 19 at halftime.
Oak Ridge hit four 3-pointers early in the game and built a 28-12 lead.
“We kept losing our man defensively, and they got some uncontested 3-pointers,” senior James Driscoll said. “Oak Ridge, you can’t leave those boys open. They’ll hit those shots every time.”
Carlson’s bunch managed just two points in the first five minutes of the third period, but then the Hornets got busy defensively. Putting pressure on the War Eagles (6-1) sparked an 11-0 Huntsville run to close the quarter. The Hornets trailed 41-32 heading into the fourth period.
“We finally decided we were going to play Huntsville defense,” Carlson said. “Unfortunately, it was too late in the game.
“At halftime we talked about not wanting to get embarrassed on our home court,” the coach added. “I told them they better play with pride and they did.”
The Hornets responded by taking better care of the ball, hitting the boards on both ends of the court and using their defense to kick-start a stagnant offense.
“Coach got onto us at halftime and we came out with more intensity,” senior guard Marvin Dunbar said. “We would have had a chance to win if we would have played that way the whole game.”
The Hornets got within seven when senior Jeremy Laday tipped in a basket early in the fourth quarter, but Oak Ridge quickly pushed their lead back to 12.
Huntsville made one more flurry late in the fourth quarter. Dunbar sank a jumper, then the Hornets got three quick steals and easy buckets. Justin Gilbert capped the Hornets’ last gasp with a steal and a layup, but he missed the subsequent free throw that would have cut the Eagles’ lead to three.
“I think we’re playing the way we are because we’re so frustrated offensively,” Carlson said. “The good thing, the positive is, we’ve lost three in a row to three very good (Class) 5A schools. We’re getting good competition, but we’ve got to start putting these games away.”
Laday, who had only four points at halftime, scored 24 for Huntsville. He also grabbed seven boards. Driscoll tossed in 11 points with three rebounds. Gilbert, one of six football players who just started working out with the basketball team, scored six points and ripped down nine rebounds. Dunbar scored six with three steals.
Senior forward Sean Kovar led Oak Ridge with 13 points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Alonzo Jefferson added 11 points for the Golden Eagles. Junior Terrell Lawrence came off the bench to score nine and senior Logan Griffin contributed eight more.
The Hornets head to Central Texas on Thursday to start play in a 16-team tournament hosted by four Killeen ISD schools. Huntsville opens play at the KISD Classic on Thursday night against Killeen Shoemaker at Shoemaker High.
On Friday, the Hornets play Red Oak at 10:30 a.m., and Brazosport at 4:30 p.m.
Hornet Sports
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D.J. Shafer
Discussion
‘It was too late’
Oak Ridge jumps on Hornets early, holds on for 58-52 victory
- Hornet Sports
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Back to work
Tick tick tick. Tick tick tick tick.
It won’t be long until the alarm goes off early Monday morning, signaling the start of high school football practice in Huntsville.
Freshmen hit the field at 8 a.m. Monday and Hornets head coach Shane Martin can’t wait. Huntsville’s defensive coordinator the past two years, Martin has been waiting seven long months for the first day of serious summer workouts. -
Huntsville ISD hires new volleyball coach
On paper and in her head, Stephanie Branch quietly took notes while sitting in the stands at Bryan High School on Thursday night. She paid particular attention to the team from Huntsville, because in a little more than a month that bunch will be her’s.
The daughter of a teaching and coaching couple, Branch, 31, was hired this week as the Lady Hornets’ new head volleyball coach. She replaces Brittany Brumbelow, who stepped down from her position at the end of the school year to spend more time with her family. -
High school notebook: Brenham boys edge Hornets at state track meet
Round one went to the Brenham boys. The Cubs won the District 18-4A boys track and field title last month in Willis.
The Huntsville boys took round two. Led by state qualifiers Justin Gilbert, Brodrick Hadnot, Henry Ford, Dimitri Collier and Cameron Simmons, the Hornets evened the score by outscoring the Cubs at the Region III track meet in Huntsville early this month.
In Austin last weekend, the Cubs edged the Hornets in the unofficial battle for track and field supremacy in District 18-4A. -
Going for gold
It wasn’t that long ago. RaKira Turner stood in the shot put ring and with all of her might, flat-footed she heaved the heavy ball forward.
Her first throws from the discus ring were even more memorable. With no idea about how to hold the strangely shaped disc, Turner did her best but the results were far from pretty. -
Hornets finish strong
They easily could have gone through the motions.
Sitting eighth in the team standings after a miserable first day at the UIL Boys Golf State Championships, the Hornets could have trudged around the Jimmy Clay Golf Course without a care.
They could have turned in another big score, gotten back on the bus and hit the highway headed home to Huntsville.
These Hornets had too much pride to mail in the second round of the tournament. On Tuesday, the Huntsville boys made a huge turnaround, shooting a team score of 307, which moved them up to sixth in the team standings. -
Difficult district
The Lady Hornets played their best round of golf Monday at Raven Nest Golf Club. Unfortunately for the Huntsville girls, they are stuck in District 18-4A with two, and probably three, of the top teams in the state.
Led by junior Madison Ward, who shot a solid 79, Huntsville’s varsity team posted a 349 team score during the first round of the District 18-4A tournament. That total puts the Lady Hornets in fourth place behind Montgomery Gold (310), Montgomery Purple (313) and Magnolia A (319) heading into today’s final round. -
Hornets finish first at Dayton track meet
The track teams from Huntsville High School did exactly what their head coach wanted them to do last week in the final tune-up before the all-important District 18-4A meet.
The Hornets finished first and the Lady Hornets placed third in the team standings at the Bronco Relays in Dayton. -
Gilbert advances to 100-meter finals at Texas Relays
Huntsville senior Justin Gilbert booked a spot in the main event. With a sizzling showing in the prelims for the 100-meter dash, Gilbert earned a place in the finals of the Texas Relays this afternoon in Austin.
Hopefully, he will have some company as some of his teammates try this morning to advance to the finals at Mike Myers Stadium at the University of Texas. -
‘I’m going to be nervous’
Austin’s Mike Myers Stadium is the place to be this weekend. The top track and field athletes not only in Texas, but from across the United States, will be competing inside a stadium full with the sport’s most passionate fans.
As a reward for weeks of hard work, and also to act as a possible tune-up for next month’s season-ending state meet, Huntsville High School is sending its best athletes to Austin, too. -
Top-ranked Cubs bring big bats to Huntsville
On a night when Brenham’s Chase Wellbrock nearly threw a no-hitter, Huntsville head coach Jeff Brumbelow shook his head more about the Cubs’ impressive hit parade.
Brenham came to Kate Barr Ross Park on Wednesday and quickly took control on the District 18-4A baseball game against the Hornets. The top-ranked Cubs banged out 16 hits in the first three innings and scored 13 runs on their way to a commanding 18-1 win over Huntsville. - More Hornet Sports Headlines
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