Sports
Hooper and Hixson Fuel Tomcats To Victory
By: Paul Roth
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Randy Hixson and Max Hooper led the way for the Tomcats, combining for 47 points on 58% shooting as the Trimble Tomcats defeated the Belpre Golden Eagles 58-44 Friday night.
It was a chippy game from the start, with bodies flying all over the court.
The physical game led to injuries on both sides, Brandon Weber of Trimble and Logan Adams of Belpre.
After going down 9-4 early in the first, Trimble ended the quarter on an 11-0 run and never looked back as they didn’t trail the rest of the night.
Belpre struggled shooting the ball all night. The Golden Eagles were 0-6 from three in the first quarter and ended the night 1-15 from behind the arch.
Trimble took a 12 point lead into halftime and it looked to be as if the Tomcats would cruise to an easy victory.
But the Golden Eagles had a different plan as they came into the 3rd quarter and locked down defensively.
Belpre limited the attack of Hixson, practically keeping the ball out of his hands the entire second half.
When Hixson did manage to get a hand on it the Golden Eagles defense was immediately up in his face to force a pass.
Belpre cut Trimbles lead to just six heading to the 4th quarter.
In the 4th both Trimble and Belpre pulled out interesting game plans.
The Tomcats decided to pass the ball around, refusing to score, if they could cut through Belpre’s defense, and refusing to give the ball up to the Golden Eagles.
This forced Belpre to start putting Tomcats at the free throw line with nearly four minutes left in the game.
This ended up working for the Golden Eagles as they threatened a comeback, cutting Trimbles lead to just four.
But, ultimately, the Golden Eagles couldn’t knock down shots and Trimble pulled away untimely giving them the victory.
Hixson finished with 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Max Hooper scored 14 of Trimbles first 27 points and finished with 24, along with 6 rebounds.
Trimbles next game is at home against Crooksville on Saturday. Belpre will look to rebound as they travel to Federal Hocking to face the Lancers on February 2nd.