Hardwood Heroes Sports
Federal Hocking Uses Press Defense, Three-Pointers to Roll Past Rebels
By: Joe Collins
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MERCERVILLE, Ohio – The Federal Hocking Lancers find themselves in an unfamiliar position, atop the TVC-Hocking. The Lancers (10-2), (7-1) have not only been winning games but dominating in them. Tuesday was no different, as they took care of a divisional foe, the South Gallia Rebels, 65-42.
In a night where the leading scorer, Hunter Smith, only had 18 points, it was the bench of the Lancers that was key in their victory. Head coach Jonathan Thompson spoke very highly of his bench players effort in their win.
“The bench played really well. I love it when we can get them a lot of minutes not only on the offensive side but the defensive end as well,” Thompson said. “If we can get that kind of thing going, I like our chances.”
The Lancers came with a defensive game plan that called for a full-court press, which means they would be on their man at every area of the court. As a result, they forced a lot of turnovers and held the Rebels to a shooting percentage of 41%. Most of their shots were knocked down in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach. The Lancers were also very effective in the rebounding department, as they ended with a total of 28 rebounds.
One of the keys for the offensive attack of the Lancers has been the three-ball and it was no different tonight as they hit a total of eight.
“Sometimes I tell them it feels like there’s a magnet on that three-point line, but they were hitting them tonight,” Thompson said. “Our kids are hitting them from the outside, which opens up our inside game too. It’s easy to coach when things are flowing in that direction so hopefully, we can continue.”
In the first quarter, the Lancers made a couple shots early, but it was mostly a defensive struggle as the Lancers ended the first with a 14-4 lead. The teams had a much more even second quarter with a lot of points near the end of the half, but the Lancers took a 33-18 lead into halftime.
Everything would change in the third quarter. The Lancers exploded to start the third, going on a 14-0 run to extend their lead to 29 points. They would lead by as much as 34 points in the third quarter and were able to put in their reserves by the end of the third when it was 56-27. The Rebels scored most of the points in the fourth as the Lancers had put in their subs by then and the Lancers would take this one 65-42.
The Lancers are now 10-2 overall and 7-1 in their conference, but Coach Thompson has made it clear that they still have a lot to do this season. He also spoke very highly of the Rebels.
“I hope we just keep growing. Everybody likes to have a winning record, but I keep telling the boys we haven’t accomplished anything yet because we got teams to play that are very good,” Thompson said. “South Gallia- they are a quality and hungry team. Coach Wolf will have them ready to go in a month when we see them again.”
The Lancers will be back in action Friday when they take on Wahama this Friday. For all coverage of the Federal Hocking Lancers boys’ and girls’ basketball teams, stay updated with Hardwood Heroes.