Jan. 10—HATTON — Eva Armstead and Ariel Jones combined for 33 points, over 60% of the Hatton girl’s entire offense, in a 53-45 rivalry win over Lawrence County on Friday night.
Going into the final quarter, Hatton was up 38-31. Jones and Armstead scored 12 of Hatton’s 15 fourth-quarter points to seal the win.
Jones had a team-high 18 points while Armstead added 15, three blocks and four-plus steals. Ariel’s older sister, Alaska Jones, tacked on eight points and two-plus blocks.
Lawrence County’s Alivia Terry had a game-high 19 points, including eight in the fourth, but she was the only Red Devil (9-11) scorer in double digits.
“I felt locked in tonight. This was the first game back starting because I was on the bench for a second,” Ariel Jones said. “So the past two days at practice I’ve been working for my spot back, and tonight I just wanted to show out.”
In a game with eight lead changes and three ties, the Hornets trailed 25-21 at halftime but outscored Lawrence County 17-6 in the third quarter.
“During halftime I told them ‘Defense is going to win this game, so you’re going to have to pick it up,'” Hatton head coach Sadie Thompson said. “They listened to that, went out there and executed.”
Three fourth-quarter 3s from Armstead and Jones helped Hatton put the game on ice. The win marks some revenge for their loss against the Red Devils earlier in the year.
“Going into this game, we knew we were going to have to lock in because the first game we got embarrassed, and we weren’t going to let that happen again.” Armstead said.
The Hornets started off the season with a blazing 7-0 start but went on a five-game losing streak right after.
A 49-24 win over area opponent Brooks earlier in the week broke that streak. With this victory over their county rival, the momentum is back in the Hornets’ direction, said their first-year head coach.
“I think we got our mojo back,” Thompson said. “Practice has really helped, we’ve really picked it up in practice and I’ve been telling them that everybody has got to be locked in and if not, we’re running.”
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Lawrence County boys 61, Hatton 53: The Red Devils knocked off a hot Hatton team who had won seven of their last eight.
Lawrence County beat their county rivals Friday night and have notched consecutive bounce-back wins after a loss to area opponent West Point earlier this week.
“They were focused tonight. After the loss (to West Point) we just wanted to come in here focused and put some balls up,” Lawrence County head coach Jeff Hodge Jr. said. “The reason we played such good defense tonight is because we didn’t take bad shots, so they weren’t able to run.”
The Red Devils led 24-14 at halftime and put the game away with a 37-point second half.
Lawrence County’s Ben Newton was able to control the pace with his passing, notching five-plus assists and a season-high 16 points. Lawrence County’s KJ Robinson added 18.
“We’ve had a tough time finishing games this year. All year long we’ve been blowing leads,” Newton said. “But tonight, we were able to control the game and got good looks at the rim.”
