Big 3Q vs. West, fast start at Heritage left HVA 2-0 in district
HARDIN VALLEY — While a fast start versus Heritage helped Hardin Valley Academy varsity boys basketball win its District 4-AAA opener early last week, a strong third quarter at home against West paved the way for a 2-0 district record.
Hardin Valley, which began the week 5-4 overall, held off West 66-58 Friday night, Dec. 9, after claiming a 62-41 victory at Heritage Tuesday, Dec. 6.
Junior Tristen Waite and senior Hunter Huff led the way scoring-wise in both victories. With 12 Hawks scoring against West, Waite finished with 14 points followed by Huff with 11.
Versus Heritage, Waite led with 18 points followed by Huff with 12 and junior Tanner White 10.
Against the Rebels Friday, “We came out, after making some halftime adjustments, in the third quarter and we outscored West 25-7,” Hawks head coach Shane Chambers said. “We did a great job of moving the ball. And I believe we had six three pointers in the third quarter. And we were attacking the basket, and that allowed us to get open shots.
“And we played great defense,” Chambers added. “We held a very talented West team to seven points in that quarter.
“In the fourth quarter they went on a run, but we were able to respond at the end.”
Against the Mountaineers, “We did a great job, especially starting out the game, in our full court man[-to-man] pressure. … That sort of set the momentum for the first half,” the HVA coach said.
Building a 20-12 first quarter lead, the Hawks took a 33-22 advantage into halftime. It was 49-32 after three quarters.
“One other key stat for us was, we shot 88 percent from the foul line [7 of 8],” Chambers said.
