Hardwood Heroes
Federal Hocking extends win streak to 13 with win over South Gallia
By: Reese Thompson
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STEWART, Ohio (WOUB) – The Federal Hocking Lancers Boys basketball team is on a 13-game winning streak after their victory against the South Gallia Rebels on Friday night.
The Lancer’s commanding 73-31 win couldn’t be predicted from the beginning of the game. South Gallia was quick on their feet holding a nine point lead over Federal Hocking. That was before the Lancers’ got their defense rolling midway through the first quarter to score 21 points.
It was the play of people like Tariq Cottrill that allowed the Lancers to get a lead and then pull away. He was quick on his feet as he made his way around the floor and scored in multiple spots throughout the game, with eight of his 19 total points coming in the third quarter.
“ First half they definitely hurt us on rebounds,” Cottrill said. “We forced some shots and we weren’t rebounding and that was one of the main things said in the locker room that needed to be fixed in the second half, and it showed.”
The attitude shifted for the Lancers going into the second half, and according to Coach Johnathan Thompson, the first three minutes of the second half were crucial to the turnout of the game.
“Luckily we came out of the locker room ready to go. We were getting good defensive stops, our press was working, we were rotating like we were supposed to. I always tell our guys when our defense is flowing, our offense goes.”
The Lancers used their third quarter explosion to score 33 points in the third quarter, matching their first half total and building up a lead of over 40 points to cruise to a near school record 13th consecutive win.
Joining Cottrill in scoring bunches was Andrew Airhart who finished second in scoring with 18 points. He was a big time contributor hitting four three-pointers in the game. Caden Chapman and Billy Ward also finished in double figures with 12 and 10 points respectfully.
Stringing so many wins together has put the Lancers confidence at an all time high, propelling them into their next game against Marietta on Saturday night.
“We started out slow but now we got a chip on our shoulder, ” Cottrill says, “and we have to come out every game and play as hard as we can.”
“It’s always enjoyable when we get that many wins,” Thompson said, “enjoy it until tomorrow morning when you get out of bed because obviously we got an important game tomorrow night here.”