By Will Knight
Special to the Dispatch
The New Hope High School Trojans ousted the Caledonia High School Feds 76-64 Thursday night improving their record to 5-3.
The Lady Trojans also came away with a victory beating the Lady Feds 49-29, improving their record to 10-0.
In the nightcap, the Trojans started the game with a 20-6 run on the Feds at the end of the first quarter; however, The Feds did not count themselves out.
Caledonia answered in the second quarter outscoring the Trojans 25-13 making the score at halftime 33-31 with New Hope in the lead.
The two teams battled back and forth throughout the second half, but the nail in the coffin for the Feds came in the form of Trojan junior guard Chris Mosley who posted 16 points in the contest.
With the Feds ahead by one late in the third quarter, Mosley fired up a three pointer and followed with a score off a Feds turnover to put the Trojans ahead 47-43 at the end of the third quarter.
Moseley struck again in the fourth quarter sinking a three pointer and following that three with a fluid lay up which made the score 54-48. Caledonia would not recover.
“Coach told me he needed me to hit some three shots, so I just had to follow through,” Moseley said.
Trojan head coach Drew McBrayer felt that the win was a collective effort of the team.
“We started containing the dribble in the second half,” McBrayer said. “[Caledonia] made some shots, but once we contained the dribble in the second half it made it tougher for them to score and gave us a chance on offense again.”
Mosley scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half.
“Everyone was fighting and clawing on defense trying to do the best they could,” McBrayer said. “Mosley did a good job in the second half. He stepped up and did some scoring for us when we needed it.”
The game took a serious turn when Trojan junior guard Derrick Sherrod slammed his head against the hardwood while battling for the ball with only 58.8 seconds left in the game. Sherrod went limp on impact, but walked off the court under his own power a few minutes later.
“He’s going to be okay,” said McBayer in regards to Sherrod’s injury. “He might have a slight concussion, but he’s going to be okay.”
Senior power forward for the Trojans Lawrence Brown also had a stellar performance in the match-up against the Feds.
Brown posted 14 points along with a few blocks. Brown played phyical and his presence was inevitable.
“We know how good we really are,” Brown said. “We know that when we come together and play as a team nobody can beat us.”
Despite a slow start, Caledonia fought hard and played well throughout the game, but could not pull out the win. Head coach Josh Scott’s Feds fall to 6-4 overall after the loss.
“Nerves I think obviously got a hold of us at the start,” Scott said. “It was just a matter of settling down and getting back to our training. We have got to work on facing man pressure and taking the nerves out of the equation. We have to start when the buzzer goes off.”
Sophomore guard Jonathan Comer led the Feds in scoring with 18 points half of which came from three point baskets.
In the opener, New Hope blew open a tight game late in the fist half.
The Lady Feds gave the Lady Trojans some trouble during the first quarter and early in the second quarter with the score at 13 apiece.
During a timeout in the early minutes of the second quarter, Lady Trojan head coach Laura Lee Holman motivated her team with a quick pep talk.
“I told them that their effort wasn’t where it needed to be,” Holman said. “I brought up that we were 9-0 and asked if this was the game they wanted to let it go. I told them that their defense is what wins them games.”
The Lady Trojans responded with a 16-4 run to end the half. They would not slow down from then on.
The Lady Trojans held the Lady Feds to only 12 points in the second half while they scored 20 of their own.
Sophomore guard Kaitlin Bradley led the way for the Lady Trojans with 12 points.
With the loss, the Lady Feds fall to 3-5 overall and will face West Point on Jan. 5, during the Vardaman Tournament. The boys’ squad will face off with West Point Jan. 6, also during the Vardaman Tournament.
New Hope boys’ and girls’ squads will face Aberdeen Saturday in the West Oktibbeha Christmas Shootout.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.