Opp coach Ronnie Sansom said the difference maker in the Bobcats’ Friday night 56-44 area loss to Bullock County wasn’t due to a lack of effort.

“The effort is always there,” he said. “We can’t miss that many shots in the lane down there in the stretch. We gave them too many second chance shots and that was the difference in the ball game.”

The Bobcats jumped out to an 8-4 lead midway through the first quarter over the Hornets and held on to the lead going into the second quarter.

At the end of the first, Opp’s Richard Davis knocked in a three-pointer to give his team a 13-8.

Bullock County came back in the second quarter outscoring Opp (4-16, 1-7 in Class 4A, Area 2) 18-6 to bring its lead to 26-19 at halftime.

In the second half, the Bobcats utilized their inside game attack to force perimeter shooting.

Both teams remained close in the third quarter, but Bullock County scored 15 points compared to Opp’s 13.

Throughout the final quarter of the contest, Opp maintained control of the game moving the ball back and forth between open guards on the perimeter. The Bobcats found open shots at the net, but couldn’t get them to fall.

“We had them where we wanted them and got the shots we wanted — you’ve got to stick those,” Sansom said.

Gavin Free led the Bobcats with 15 points and Tyler Harrison had nine.

Sansom said the focus right now is on next week’s three games against Kinston, Florala and Andalusia.

“That’s going to be three pretty tough games,” Sansom said. “Right now, we’re taking those games and we’re not looking at the area tournament right now. We’ve got Bullock County again — we split with them — so we know that we can play with them and can beat them.

“We’re going to take it one game at a time next week,” he said. “Kinston beat us down there really well. We’re going to have to get regrouped and get ready to play. Florala is going to play hard every time and of course we finish out with Andalusia.”

In girls varsity action earlier Friday night, Bullock County won 57-37.

The Bobcats will hit the road next Thurs., Jan. 28 to play Florala.