By Tom Waddill
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.
