HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Holly Pond faced West Point in Wednesday’s night cap at Tom Drake Coliseum and the Warriors were able to take control in the first half before pulling away in the second half to eliminate the Broncos 73-55.
Kobe Bowers got things started with a three-pointer for the Warriors and a pair of Carter Thornton free throws made it a 5-0 game early in the opening quarter. Parker Sellers netted a jumper to get the Broncos on the board and make it a 3-point game, but Will Cochran scored back to back buckets inside to give West Point a 9-4 lead midway through the first. Cleghorn laid one in to stretch the lead to 11-4 and he drained a three on the next possession to make it a 10-point game. Gunnar McBee drove the length of the court and scored to cut into the Warrior lead but back to back baskets by Cochran built the lead back up to 18-6 with less than two minutes remaining in the first quarter. Sellers knocked down a three in the final minute of the period to trim the lead to 10 but West Point still managed to carry a 21-9 advantage into the second.
Cade Simmons knocked down a trey to add to the Warrior lead at the start of the second quarter and Logan Selby scored inside to extend the lead to 26-9. Another score from McBee made it a 26-13 game midway through the period but another bucket from Cochran gave West Point a 28-13 lead. The Warriors continue to pull away as back to back baskets from Bowers made it 37-16 with less than two minutes to play in the half. Andrew Lynn drained a three from the left wing to extend the lead to 42-19 and West Point went into the locker room at halftime leading the Broncos by 23.
Thornton knocked down a three to give the Warriors a 46-21 lead early in the third quarter and Cochran laid another one in to make it a 25-point game. Bowers and Brown traded baskets to make it 50-27 and Cleghorn scored in transition to build the lead back up to 25. Cleghorn added a pair of shots from the free throw line to stretch the lead to 56-29 midway through the period. Bowers buried a three-pointer from the top of the key to give West Point a 30-point lead with less than three minutes to play in the third but baskets from Landon Rowell and Gunner Creel cut the lead to 59-33 with just over a minute to play in the quarter. At the end of three, the Warriors held a 61-35 lead over Holly Pond.
West Point maintained a 64-39 advantage over the Broncos early in the final period, but Holly Pond was able to cut into the lead and used a 9-0 scoring run to make it a 64-48 game midway through the fourth. Ethan Gammon and Jayden Perkins traded baskets to make it 66-50 with three minutes remaining. Lynn knocked down a three from the right wing to give the Warriors a 73-52 lead with just over a minute to play and West Point went on to win it over the Broncos by a final score of 73-55.
Cochran led the Warriors with 20 points in the win, followed by Bowers with 12 and Cleghorn with nine. McBee led Holly Pond with 15 points in the loss. Perkins added 11 and Casey Brown finished with nine.
West Point will advance to play Good Hope in the varsity boys semifinals Friday night at 7:15 at Tom Drake Coliseum.
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