Hooper Academy sweeps hoops doubleheader from Macon East

Nolan Cole blocks the shot of Macon East’s Jacob Nowden in Hooper Academy’s win over the Knights on Friday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

HOPE HULL -- Hooper Academy entered Friday’s game with Macon East undefeated and untested by the Knights in two early December contests that resulted in 30-point blowouts by the Colts.

It didn’t surprise Hooper coach Darryl Free that the Knights came out with a different energy on Friday, but it may have startled his players to find themselves locked in a one-possession game for most of the 32 minutes at Darrell Self Gym.

In the end, a pair of baskets by forwards Kaleb Jackson and Luke Moseley tipped the momentum late to the Colts and Hooper improved to 15-0 with a 48-38 win over Macon East on Friday.

“It was definitely a rollercoaster of a game,” Free said. “Macon East, I thought, did a great job. This is their first game back at full strength and we knew they were going to come in hungry and play fast and play a little different than they have throughout the year. I thought our guys did a good job of weathering the storm early, the foul trouble, then figuring out a way of staying out of foul trouble later so we could get back to our identity in the fourth quarter, which is pressing.”

A 3-pointer and an opportunity for a three-point play, both by Nolan Cole, staked the Colts to a quick lead, but the Colts contributed more personal fouls than points to the scorebook in the latter half of the first half, allowing Macon East to rally and tie the game at 11-11 entering the second quarter.

“Them getting us out of our press kind of threw us off our game a little bit,” Free said, “but we adjusted and did what we had to do to get back to that point.

“We didn’t do a good job of rotating early. They came out and played with an energy that I knew they were going to play with. They did a great job of coming out and giving us some looks that we weren’t quite ready for and it got us out of position and we had some foul trouble.”

With little pressure on defense, the game settled into a lackluster halfcourt game, with Hooper owning a slim 19-18 lead at the half and 33-31 lead entering the fourth quarter. From there, the Colts were able to extend the lead to double digits over the final six minutes as Moseley scored six of his 17 points and Jackson had four of his six in the final period.

“We know we have some size down there and that’s where our advantage is,” Free said. “If they double Luke, which they did tonight -- they doubled Luke a lot -- Kaleb has been there to get some big baskets for us all year.”

Cole added 11 points, followed by Jeremy Griggs with eight. 

Omarion Wilson led Macon East with 14 points, followed by Micah Andrews with nine.

Hooper girls run away from Macon East

Hooper Academy coach Jessi Hayes drilled her team in practice this week, intent on improvement after a lackluster performance in a Christmas tournament at Southern Academy two weeks ago.

The practice paid off as five Hooper players scored in a 21-point first quarter as the Colts ran away to a surprisingly easy 54-23 win over Macon East Academy at Darrell Self Gym on Friday afternoon.

“That was the best first half, offensively and defensively put together,” Hayes said. “We had a loss a couple of weeks ago and we knew we had to put in some work. On Monday when we came back (from Christmas break), offensively, we moved the ball better than I’ve seen us do and today we put it all together and our defense stepped up.

“The first half was great. I’m very proud of them. I feel like all of our guards were very confident in their shooting. They drove to the basket better.”

Senior Ashbee Norman led the attack with 16 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and a steal, but it was the younger Colts that did much of the damage on Friday. Freshman Katie Robinson had eight points, two rebounds, a steal and three assists, while freshman Jade Taylor had 10 points.

In addition, Grace Seale had six points, seven rebounds, a pair of assists and a pair of steals, Raylee Midkiff had five points and four rebounds and Henlee Garvin had four points and six rebounds.

But what helped the Colts to an impressive victory on Friday was its defensive effort in limiting Macon East Academy’s post players, Jamya and Jadah Powell, from dominating the paint. In two previous games against the Knights in early December, both Powells were a handful and Hayes knew her team had to change its strategy on Friday.

“Defensive wise, we really worked on it (in Thursday’s practice) and tried to prepare for it,” she said. “One of them (Jamya Powell) scored 25 points when we lost to them and she scored 15 when we beat them, so we knew exactly what we had to do and who we had to stop.

“We played a different zone than we had been playing. We adjusted it to where there was more pressure down low than up top and made them shoot the ball more.”

Jamya Powell had four points, Jadah Powell had two points and the leading outside threat, Miya Tatum, had five points, with all three spending most of the second half on the bench, watching the action after the game was out of hand.

Addie Longcrier led the Knights with 10 points.

Hooper (12-3) opens area play next week with games at Lowndes on Tuesday and Fort Dale on Thursday.