Hawks cruise to victory
Knoxville — As it prepared for its game Saturday morning, Dec. 13, coming off a long road trip the previous day, the Hardin Valley Academy boys basketball team was mired in frustration in the midst of a three-game losing streak.
But the Hawks got off to a fast start in an 85-43 victory over Kingston as they answered an early wake-up call for the Turnkey Hardwood Classic at Webb School of Knoxville.
Hardin Valley put this one against the Yellow Jackets early as it opened a 17-0 lead when Kristian Oliver knocked down a three-point jumper less than midway through the first quarter.
From there, the Hawks would cruise to victory and snap a three-game losing streak.
“We took out three games worth of frustration against Kingston,” Hardin Valley coach Andy Arendt said. “We’re a young team; and when we’re not facing a physical mismatch, like we are most of the time in (Class) 4A, we’re usually pretty good and we usually play pretty well.”
The Hawks (6-5 overall, 0-3 in District 4-4A) entered the contest at the Lee Athletic Center following a tough 78-70 district loss on the road against league newcomer McMinn County Friday night, Dec. 12.
But they didn’t appear to be battling fatigue from the road as they opened a 21-2 lead late in the opening frame and held a 26-9 advantage by first quarter’s end. The lead ballooned to 51-21 by halftime.
Hardin Valley featured a balanced scoring attack as 12 players scored for the Hawks against the overmatched Yellow Jackets, who picked up an early third-quarter spark from Aiden O’Leary, who scored the first five points after halftime. O’Leary, who scored a game-high 16 points, pulled Kingston to within 51-26 with 6 minutes, 41 seconds left in the third quarter.
Caleb Murray led the Hawks with 14 points. Mike Fritts scored 12 points and Jax Sparks finished with 10. Kymani Smith and Brad Mezoo scored nine points each.
HVA opened the week with 78-70 district loss to Bearden at home.
