Hoggard 62 South Brunswick 21
Hoggard split the regular season Mideastern Conference title with West Brunswick and earned first-round bye in next week’s conference tournament with a 62-21 win over South Brunswick on Thursday night.
“Our guys have worked really hard and [I’m] just proud and happy for them,” said Hoggard Coach Brett Queen. “Going into the season I thought we had a chance to win a conference title, but we play in a really tough league…We went 5-1 on the road in conference and that played a big part in our success. I’m just really happy for kids.”
With the Cougars trying to slow the pace of play to deal with Hoggard’s explosive offense, South Brunswick kept the score in single digits through most of the first quarter before A.J. Fyre knocked down a jump shot to give the Vikings a 10-5 lead after the opening eight minutes.
Trae Bryant started to heat up in the second stanza with back-to-back treys, along with a steal and easy two points to make it 24-10 with three minutes to go in the first half. The effort from Bryant sparked a 23-5 run to close out the period as Hoggard put the game away after the break.
Bryant scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the second period and Xavier Johnson finished with 11 points. The Vikings had nine players in the scoring column including Jack Bagley, who hit three trifectas for nine points.
“Trae [Bryant] needs to be good for us to be good,” said Queen. “He’s really been aggressive offensively, locked in, shooting the ball as well as he as all year long. That’s what you look for when you have a senior this late in the season. I have a lot of confidence in him and know teams are going to key on him moving forward, but I think he’s up for the challenge.”
The Vikings moved to 10-2 in league play (18-6 overall) and sit idle until the second round of the Mideastern Conference Tournament when the Vikings return to the floor at Brunswick Community College against the winner of No. 4 Ashley vs. No. 5 Laney.
South Brunswick opens the conference tournament against West Brunswick at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17.
Hoggard 10-23-13-14=62
South 5-5-6-5=21
Hoggard stats: Trae Bryant, 19 points; Walker Bateman, two points; Harrison Smith, two points; Xavier Johnson, 11 points; Patrick Morrison, seven points; Nick Bass, four points; Sylvester Smith, two points; A.J. Frye, five points; Jack Bagley, nine points.
South stats: Alec Grooms, six points; Trey Gilbert, one point; Hunter French, two points; Brandon Gonzalez, five points; Andrew Mosely, five points; Xavier Williams, two points.
West Brunswick 72 Ashley 67
After dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season, West Brunswick was tested for a third straight time and forced into overtime in the second consecutive game, but the Trojans held off the Screaming Eagles 72-67 in Shallotte to clinch the program’s first league title in 29 years on Thursday.
West Brunswick carried a five-point advantage into the break and extended its lead to nine headed into the fourth quarter, but the Screaming Eagles stormed back in the final eight minutes to force the extra session.
Tyre Gathright had 40 of his team’s 62 points when Coach Eric Davis made the switch as the Trojans outscored Ashley 6-1 in overtime to secure the victory.
Senior Gray Cheers led the way for West Brunswick with 22 points, which included four in the extra frame. Classmates Alex Clarida finished with 12 and Saadiq Johnson added 10.
West Brunswick finished the regular season 10-2 in conference and 21-2 overall. The Trojans open the Mideastern Conference Tournament against South Brunswick on Tuesday, Feb. 17. Tip-off is slated for 4:30 p.m. at Brunswick Community College.
Ashley 14-12-15-24-1=67
West 16-15-19-16-6=72
New Hanover 85 Topsail 54
North Brunswick East Duplin
