Blue Devils end skid at Lawson Classic
By Taylor Howsmon
Jan 23, 2012, 13:58
ETTRICK — Going into Saturday’s game, Hopewell coach Reggie Simon’s team just needed a win. It didn’t matter by how much or how pretty the basketball was. After three consecutive double-digit losses, the Blue Devils needed a boost.
“We badly needed a win,” Simon said. “We’ve had some really tough losses lately ... I thought today we needed to do some things differently and get us a win.”
Simon made some radical changes for the game with Armstrong as part of the Bill Lawson Jr. Classic at Virginia State University. First, Simon took Markus Adams out of the starting lineup and replaced him with Ray-Shawn Jones for ball handling and defense. Then, for the first time this year, Simon went to a 2-3 zone for the majority of the game. The strategy worked.
Hopewell shot 17-19 from the foul line in the final quarter and got outstanding performances from both Adams and Tabyus Taylor in a 60-51 Blue Devil win.
Adams scored just two points in the first half on 1-of-3 shooting. But the senior responded in the second half by taking over the game. He shot 6 of 8 from the floor and 6 of 7 from the line to lead Hopewell with 18 points.
“Markus did a great job ... It was a great team effort, but those two (Adams and Taylor) did stand out,” Simon said. Free throw shooting is what won us this game ... We’ve worked very hard to become better from the line and tonight, that payed off.”
After a 10-5 opening quarter, subscribing to the low-scoring trend set by Hopewell this season, the Blue Devils and Wildcats broke even with 13 apiece in the second. The Hopewell defensive effort was tremendous, holding Armstrong to 32 percent shooting and forcing 15 turnovers.
With a 23-18 lead, Hopewell continued its consistent play into the third quarter. The largest Blue Devil lead was nine, and they only trailed once in the entire game. That deficit was 3-0, early in the game.
Hopewell lead by 11 after two Ray-Shawn Jones free throws with two minutes to go in the game. But the Wildcats weren’t quite finished, going on a 7-2 run to close the lead to 53-47. Armstrong got close, but the Blue Devils were able to keep them at arms’ length with excellent free throw shooting. Hopewell went 5-6 from the line in the final minute, and a lay-up by Titan Jones sealed the deal with 15 seconds left.
The effort was Hopewell’s most consistent in some time, as Simon pointed out, his team didn’t make the critical errors that has cost them in recent district losses.
“We had some minor lapses ... But I thought our ability to not give up easy baskets was the biggest difference in the game,” he said. “Playing that zone forced them to move the ball more, which I think hurt them a little bit ... This is a big win because it can give us some confidence down the stretch.”
Hopewell now enters a very critical part of their season. They sit in fourth place after Friday’s loss with four district games left.
The Blue Devils put four in double figures with 18 from Adams, 12 from Titan Jones and 10 from Brian Brantley. Taylor scored 11, and grabbed 14 rebounds. Hopewell held Armstrong leading scorer Tavon Mealy, who scored 28 Friday night against Henrico, to just 11 points. He and Quamaine Burton lead the Wildcats with 11.
Box Score
Armstrong 5 13 10 23 — 51
Hopewell 10 13 12 25 — 60
Armstrong: Cook 6, Cooley 2, Bowden 5, Goodman 4, Mealy 11, Herring 6, Lundy 0, Valentine 6, Stewart 0, Burton 11. Hopewell: R. Jones 5, Brantley 10, T. Jones 12, T. Taylor 11, Brown 2, Ennis 0, Adams 18, Gholson 2, Bryant 0, Monds 0, Fernandez 0.
