BOYS

The Tharptown Wildcats overcame an early deficit to come back and beat the Colbert Heights Wildcats 50-35.

Tharptown trailed 22-11 early in the second quarter and went on an 11-0 run to tie the game. Tharptown dominated the game beginning with that comeback, outscoring Colbert Heights 39-15 the rest of the way.

“We just couldn’t get anything to go in early on,” said Tharptown coach Shannon Benford. “We put some pressure on them and got some easy shots in transition that help get us going.”

Winston Nolen led Tharptown with 15 points, followed by Colton Simmons with 13 points. Edward Lopez added nine points, Yovani Gomez had five points, Edwin Garcia four points, Luis Valdez two points and Tyler Amos two points.

Hatton 56, Tharptown 54

The Tharptown Wildcats had a shot to win their area opener at the buzzer, but Lopez’s three-point attempt rimmed in-and-out, giving the Hatton Hornets a 56-54 win.

“Edward played a great game for us,” said Benford. “He had a clear shot, but it just didn’t go down.

“That didn’t cost us the game. Our play out of the locker room in the third quarter has been a killer for us this year. We have got to get that corrected.”

Lopez led Tharptown with 16 points on the night, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a 30-point performance by Hatton’s Ridge Harrison, who was dominant after a scoreless first quarter.

Tharptown led Hatton 15-9 at the end of the first quarter, but the Hornets pulled ahead by one, 24-23, by halftime. Hatton extended the lead to 42-35 by the end of the third quarter.

Nolen and Garcia helped Tharptown climb back into the game with solid second half shooting. Nolen scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half, while Garcia scored eight of his 10 points in the second half. The Wildcats outscored the Hornets 19-14 in the fourth quarter to have a chance at the last-second win.

Simmons added seven points, Amos had five points, and Valdez added two points.

Sheffield 64, Tharptown 52

Tharptown lost a second area contest to Sheffield 64-52. Sheffield led Tharptown 32-19 at halftime and 56-33 at the end of the third quarter.

Nolen led Tharptown with 24 points, including 19 in the second half.

Lopez (8), Garcia (7), Simmons (6), Gomez (5) and Valdez (2) also scored for the Wildcats.

Tharptown falls to 0-3 in area competition.

GIRLS

Gracie Montgomery scored 23 points to lead the Tharptown Wildcats past Colbert Heights 51-25.

Montgomery hit two three-pointers and scored eight points in the first quarter to help the Wildcats race out to a 16-5 lead. Tharptown led 28-14 at halftime.

Montgomery scored eight more points in the third quarter to help the Wildcats extend their lead to 39-20.

Following Montgomery was Brooke Daily with eight points, Autumn Montgomery with five points, Adrianna Borden with five points, Shaylee Wieting with four points, Aly Vandiver with four points and Jaiden Gaston with two points.

Tharptown 43, Sheffield 19

The Lady Wildcats shut out the Sheffield Bulldogs in the first quarter en route to a 43-19 area win. It was the Wildcats’ first area win of the season.

Tharptown led Sheffield 15-0 at the end of the first quarter and 21-5 at halftime. The Wildcats extended their lead to 31-7 by the end of the third quarter, cruising to the easy win.

“It was good to get over the hump,” said Tharptown Coach Tanna Benford. “We have been struggling to score lately, and we’ve been right in all of our area games. It was good to finally get a win on the board.”

Montgomery led Tharptown with 13 points, followed by Shaylee Wieting with 11 points.

Hatton 43, Tharptown 38

Tharptown suffered its second area loss of the season, falling to the Hatton Hornets 43-38.

Both teams struggled to put points on the board early, with Tharptown leading 6-2 at the end of the first quarter. Hatton claimed the lead by halftime, 15-12.

Tharptown’s two leading scorers didn’t get hot until the second half, with Wieting scoring 10 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter. Montgomery scored seven of her 10 points in the second half.