Trailing by three points at the end of the first quarter Friday, the New Hope High School boys basketball team needed to respond to Oxford High’s physicality.
The Trojans trailed the entire quarter, had five turnovers, and were struggling to get to the basket past forward D.K. Metcalf.
That’s when Toddy Jennings showed up.
The junior forward scored seven of his 10 points in the second quarter and became a force on the boards, tallying three offensive rebounds in the quarter to help New Hope go into the break with a two-point lead, which it held and extended to as many as 16 before sealing a 63-57 win.
“I practice at home, lift a lot of weights,” Jennings said. “I prepare for games like this. I play a lot of ball in the park, and that helps me matchup for games like this against good competition like Oxford.”
Jennings said the Trojans used a lot of screens and post plays to work their way to the basket for layups and to get to the free-throw line.
The Trojans’ length and physical play helped power their second-quarter surge, but it also was pivotal for maintaining momentum, which the Trojans used to power a 14-4 run in the third quarter.
“The zone was very beneficial, but we just didn’t get anything out of our offensive trips,” Oxford coach Drew Tyler said. “I thought we came out and played defensively (in the third quarter) like we were in foul trouble. They were the action and we were the reaction. It led to more fouls. It looked like and felt like we were playing from behind.”
Tyler said the Trojans’ length and pace and ability to run them off the 3-point line affected their rhythm on offense.
“That’s when we have to get touches down low to our long, big guys, score on the block or free throw line,” Tyler said. “We gotta take the ball to the goal and draw fouls.”
The Trojans (15-5, 2-0 Class 5A, Region 2) held a double-digit lead midway through the fourth quarter, but they had to sweat out the last few minutes after committing five turnovers in a minute and a half. The Chargers cut the lead to 60-55 after Jarkel Joiner hit a layup and drew a foul in the lane. Free throws by Demyis Mayberry and Darious Williams and four missed 3-pointers by the Chargers (15-3, 0-1) kept the lead at five or more points.
“We were trying to space them out a little bit because they had to come chase us and get some back cuts and some easy drives in there,” New Hope coach Drew McBrayer said. “I thought we tried to sleep on it a little too much. I called a timeout and told the guys we have the lead and we need to be a little bit more aggressive here.
“At that point, we were in the mode of no jump shots, just wide-open, easy layups. There were some turnovers that were unforced and we didn’t need at the time, but we held on and won.”
Josh Gibbs led Oxford with 17 points. Shemar Johnson paced New Hope with 18. Jaylon Bardley had 10 and Terryonte Thomas had nine.
Girls
Oxford 65, New Hope 34
For a brief stretch, the Lady Trojans appeared to have shaken off the woes that led to a scoreless first quarter and 15 turnovers.
New Hope reached the bonus four minutes into the second quarter, and cut Oxford’s lead to 10 points, but misses at the free-throw line and the Lady Chargers’ ability to capitalize on the Lady Trojans’ turnovers saw the visitors’ lead grow to 25-11 at halftime en route to a win Friday.
“We had some kids kinda of calm down,” New Hope coach Laura Lee Holman said. “We were able to get the ball across halfcourt and get them chasing us. We got them in a little foul trouble, but we just couldn’t connect at the line. We made a push to get that change in momentum, and I think if we would have knocked down some shots from the free-throw line it would have put us over the edge and given us a bit more confidence.
Holman said a lack of leadership and experience led to several players “trying to do too much.”
“Having that upperclassman who could say, ‘Hey, I can handle this pressure’ would have helped our younger players follow suit,” Holman said. “But we’ll learn from this game and get better.”
Lanoria Abrams had nine points to lead New Hope (3-16, 0-2).
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