MBB: Spring Hill survives Bulldog scare, 50-43
near the basket during Friday night's game against league-leading
Spring Hill. The Panthers survived, 50-43. (Photo by John Krueger)
CARTHAGE, Tx -- If the Spring Hill Panthers thought they could come to Carthage and it would be a 'cake walk' Friday night they received the biggest surprise of their season. The Dawgs came out ready, committing just 15 turnovers and keeping the Panthers 'on the ropes' until the final minute of play before SHHS escaped with a 50-43 win here in Bulldog Gymnasium.
The slim victory kept Spring Hill alone in first place in the District 16-3A race with a spotless 5-0 mark. Carthage, which is now 4-17, 0-5 in league play, played much better than a winless district team as the Dawgs led most of the second and third quarters and even had a 40-36 advantage with 2:25 left in the contest.
But that was when the league-leaders caught fire - and momentum - outscoring CHS 14-3 over the final 2:11 to claim the win.
In other District 16-3A games on Friday, Gladewater topped Henderson, 55-48, and Pittsburgh outlasted Gilmer, 61-58.
Pittsburgh (4-1) continues to trail Spring Hill by one full game in the standings, with Gladewater (3-2) in third and Gilmer (2-3) in fourth place, but only one game behind the Bears in the hunt for the final playoff berth. Henderson sits at 1-4 in district.
Meechie Bowman and Tee Goree each poured in 11 points apiece for a Bulldog team that has been making strong strides since league play began three weeks ago.
"The guys played hard and gave a great effort all the way down to the end," said Carthage first-year head coach Jon Haft. "We just didn't execute the final couple of minutes. That's when (Spring Hill) caught fire and took the momentum and we couldn't break them of that.
"Our record doesn't show the progress these guys have been making. We've been getting better every single game. The little things that we weren't doing early in the year are the areas we've been improving."
Haft said his squad has been focusing on holding down its number of turnovers and cutting down on the number of offensive rebounds the Bulldogs' opponents grab in a game.
"We've really been focusing on those two areas, which were our demise in the first four district games," the coach stated. "The kids did a great job focusing on taking care of the ball and doing a better job of keeping our opponent off the offensive glass tonight and it showed on the scoreboard."
Ashton Robertson added eight points for the Dawgs, with O'Keeron Rutherford chipping in six, Greg Brantley scoring four and Broc Jemison scoring three points.
Clay Lattier paced the Panthers, scoring 12 points, with eight of those coming in the final 54 seconds of play. Carthage managed just one 3-pointer with eight seconds left after Spring Hill grabbed the momentum down the stretch.
Trailing 40-36, the Panthers' Lattier converted an offensive rebound and Brandon Robbins (five points) hit a 16-footer off glass with 1:49 left to tie the score at 40-40.
After a pair of missed CHS free throws and later a turnover just under the one-minute mark, Robertson converted a Spring Hill turnover into a layup, drew the foul and converted the free throw. This created a 43-40 Spring Hill lead with 54 seconds remaining.
After a missed Carthage layup with 42 seconds on the clock, Robertson was fouled when he went in and made a layup. A technical foul was called on a member of the Bulldogs and Robertson converted all three free throws and the Panthers received possession. The 48-40 CHHS lead with 36 ticks on the clock was too much for the Dawgs to overcome.
In district games on Tuesday night, Carthage hosts Pittsburgh and Gladewater travels to Gilmer. Henderson hosts Spring Hill. Coming up on Friday, Carthage will host Gilmer, Gladewater will be at Spring Hill and Pittsburgh will host Henderson.