By Tom Waddill
The Hornets would be wise to forget about Magnolia’s overall record. It’s true, the Bulldogs are 6-14 this season, but like Huntsville, they are 2-0 in District 18-4A play.
That district record is all that matters to Hornets coach Larry Carlson, and it’s the only thing that matters when the season is over.
On Friday, the Bulldogs play host to the Hornets in a battle for first place in 18-4A. Carlson said Huntsville likely will have its hands full with a Magnolia team that is playing some good basketball. The Bulldogs blasted Caney Creek 85-43 on Tuesday to set up Friday’s first-place showdown with the Hornets.
“I fully expect to see the same thing we saw against Montgomery — zone, zone, no press and them trying to slow us down,” Carlson said a day after his team got past the Bears and their effective zone defense, 57-46. “I don’t know much about Magnolia yet, but I’m expecting them to play nothing but zone.
“The key to the zone is you’ve got to knock down open shots by swinging the ball. Also, once you see an opening you’ve got to penetrate the zone, then kick the ball out to the open man. In practice today we worked on zone and put in a few new inbounds plays and a new offense. It takes a team effort to beat a zone.”
Huntsville got a team effort Tuesday, but Carlson was still upset about the way the Hornets played after running out to a 17-3 first-quarter lead.
“I’m not happy at all about last night’s game,” the Huntsville coach said. “That was a moral victory for Montgomery. They left here thinking they’re going to get us next time.”
Caney Creek probably didn’t feel the same way after its game with Magnolia on Tuesday. Holding onto a 10-7 lead late in the first period, the Bulldogs closed the quarter with a 17-0 spurt. Jay Anderson, who led Magnolia with 17 points, scored six during that game-changing run.
Magnolia coach Danny Randall said the Bulldogs are starting to see the benefits of a playing a tough nondistrict schedule.
“We played a lot of good teams before district and we knew if we could just stay positive we would be OK once the district part of the schedule came around,” Randall told the Conroe Courier. “We played a lot of (Class) 5A schools early and now the playing field is level in Class 4A.”
Against Caney Creek, which dropped to 0-2 in district and 3-13 on the season, depth played a big part in the Bulldogs’ blowout victory. All 13 of Magnolia’s varsity players scored. In addition to Anderson’s 17-point performance, the Bulldogs got 12 points from Caleb Reitzel.
“We wanted to make them play 94 feet,” Randall said. “We wanted to make it up-tempo and score some easy baskets.”
Caney Creek coach Brian Tudman said the Bulldogs followed their coach’s game plan to perfection.
“They have 13 guys who all play hard,” Tudman told the Courier. “Unfortunately we have eight guys and about five of them play hard.”
Magnolia built a 30-point lead halfway through the second quarter on a 3-point basket from Reitzel. The Bulldogs, who took a 49-18 lead into the break, hit 9-of-18 shots from behind the arc on the night.
Randall told the Courier it’s way too early to start thinking about the playoffs.
“We are not worried about that right now,” the coach said. “Right now we are just thinking about getting ready for Huntsville on Friday.”
Game time Friday is 7:30 p.m.
Huntsville’s new Mr. Cool — Who is that playing point guard and wearing the No. 3 jersey for the Hornets? He sure looks like Marvin Dunbar, but he’s doing some of the things former Huntsville star Drae Murray did during his career at HHS.
Dunbar, a little-used reserve last season, is quickly becoming a veteran leader for the Hornets. On Tuesday, he knocked down three 3-pointers — two during an impressive opening stretch in which Huntsville jumped out to a 14-point lead it never relinquished. Dunbar also dished out three assists, had two steals, blocked a shot and grabbed a pair of rebounds.
“It’s way different this year,” Dunbar said after Tuesday’s game. “The game has slowed down to me and I feel more comfortable with coach Carlson. He’s not always yelling.”
Elsewhere in 18-4A — Magnolia West evened its district record at 1-1 with a 57-43 win over Waller. West was led by Matt Egar, who scored 29 points, and West Wyrick, who added 12. Jason Clifford scored 10 for the Mustangs.
In Willis, Brenham (2-0 in district, 12-8 overall) edged the Wildkats 47-40. Deontte Breedlove poured in 21 points for the Cubs, who erased an early 14-7 deficit by outscoring the Wildkats 33-20 in the second and third periods. Willis dropped to 1-1 in 18-4A play and 11-6 on the season.
“We have a hard time with Willis on the road every time and this year was no different,” Cubs coach Bruce King told the Brenham Banner-Press. “Willis is better this year. They didn’t graduate any players so they’re all back, so this was a real good win for us. Getting a road win here in district was real big for us.”
Brenham is tied for first place with Huntsville and Magnolia, while Willis dropped into a tie for second with Magnolia West.
“I really think it’s going to be a tight district race, so you’ve got to hold court at home if you want to be a playoff team and then you’ve got to pick up tough road wins,” King said. “So far we’re right on pace.”
Lady Hornets get back on track — With a 42-38 victory at Montgomery, the Huntsville varsity girls stayed in the thick of the District 18-4A race. Huntsville improved to 3-1 in district play by controlling the glass and never backing down, even though the Lady Hornets trailed for most of the game.
The Lady Hornets (11-9 overall) scored the first basket of the game, but trailed until the final two minutes of the fourth quarter.
Sophomore post Ronisha Major led the Lady Hornets with 17 points, three blocks and three rebounds. Senior Destini Henderson scored 12 points and ripped down 12 rebounds. Guard Shonecra James contributed seven points and four boards. Guard Cedra Coleman added seven points.
“We are going to need to score more points than that, but we got a lot of production from different people stepping up,” Huntsville coach Devin Gabbard said. “Coming from behind speaks volumes. We didn’t really click on both sides of the ball. It was a physical game and there weren’t a lot of calls, but we found a way to win.”
In other girls’ action Tuesday, Waller routed Magnolia West 54-31, Willis blasted Brenham 51-25 and Magnolia made it look easy against Caney Creek, 57-28.
