WEST POINT, Ala. — The inaugural Randy Jones Classic was hosted at West Point High School Saturday and several local squads were participating in this year’s field. In the early games, Holly Pond fell to Mortimer Jordan 68-42, Cullman defeated Corner 66-25 and West Point handled J.B. Pennington 68-29. In the nightcap, the Good Hope Raiders faced off against the Hartselle Tigers. After a close first half, the Hartselle Tigers pulled away in the second half to take the game over Good Hope 72-58.
Five different Raiders found the scoring column in the opening quarter, but found themselves trailing, 18-12, going into the second period. Dakota Overton drilled a corner three, then Weston Hancock knocked down a short jumper to cut it to 18-17 a little over a minute into the quarter. Five straight points by Hartselle pushed their lead to 23-17, but a pair of Jacob Haynes free throws made it a 23-19 game with 4:38 remaining in the first half. The Tigers quickly increased their lead to 30-19, but Tyler Cone got red-hot from behind the arc, drilling a trio of treys, as that made it a 32-28 game with a little over two minutes to go in the first half. A pair of late baskets by Hartselle gave them a 36-28 lead at the half.
K’mal Bell put in a pair of free throws to cut it to 36-30 early in the third period, but the Tigers went on an 11-0 run to give them a 47-30 lead. Hancock stopped the bleeding with a three to cut it to 47-33 with a little over five minutes to go in the quarter, but another big Hartselle run pushed their lead to 55-33. Baskets by Cone and Hancock made it a 57-39 game late in the quarter, and later on, a pair of baskets by Tucker Malin cut it to 59-44 going into the final quarter.
The Tigers increased their lead to 64-44 early in the fourth, but baskets by Overton and Bell made it a 64-48 game. Hartselle scored six straight points to make it a 70-48 game. Haynes scored seven points late in the quarter for the Raiders, but they fell just short at the end to the Tigers, 72-58.
Cone led the way for Good Hope (6-4) with 14 points. Haynes put in 13 points. Hancock finished with 11 points and Overton ended up with seven.
Good Hope will travel to take on West Morgan Tuesday night.
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