Missing HVA pieces? No worries at W-Blount
MARYVILLE — Though missing two starters, one lost for the season, and another key player who comes off the bench, you would hardly have noticed Hardin Valley Academy’s shorthandedness at William Blount last Friday.
The Hawks (11-9 at week’s end) established control in the second quarter against the powerful Governors (17-5), built a sizeable lead in the third quarter, then held off a furious WBHS rally for a huge 63-58 victory Jan. 27, the team’s first District 4-4A win.
“I’ll tell you when I think we stink, and I’ll tell you when I think that we were good. And tonight we were really good,” HVA head coach Andrew Arendt said. “We played really strong with the basketball when they pressured. Our turnovers that we did have were mostly unforced.
“… We executed the game plan much better than we had previously,” he added about a 1-point home loss to the Govs.
“Like, our game plan was to shrink driving lanes on (standout senior wing Grady Robertson, 14 points) and try to keep (standout senior wing Canden Windle, 17 points) from killing us. And those are two of the best players around, not just in this district, but in the state. … They had 28 and 24 (respectively) last time, and we did a better job on them this time.”
“Well, it was really sticking to the game plan,” HVA junior point guard Bryson Frey said. “The coaches made a good game plan coming in. Doubling their two best players, and so I feel like we stuck to the game plan the whole game for both halves, instead of just one half like we’ve normally done in other district games.
“We put two halves together, I think. And I think that’s why we pulled through,” he added.
Hawks post Will Fellers (13 points) and forward Barron Scheetz (11) led in scoring. Frey and wing Ben Brophy each scored 10, as HVA improved to 1-2 in district entering this week.
Arendt mentioned one player “that stepped up in a way that I didn’t know he had in him, which was Javan Curry,” he said about this junior wing who scored seven. “Javon was phenomenal on the defensive end. ... Javan showed me something tonight and I’m extremely proud of him.”
“You know, we’re down a few players, but we’ve still got the same standards,” Curry said.
