AREA ACTION HEATING UP: Straughn breaks out the brooms to sweep Opp
Published 12:05 am Wednesday, January 9, 2019
- Tucker Reynolds plays tight defense against Opp. Josh Dutton/Star-News
The Straughn Tigers opened up area play with a sweep over the Opp Bobcats on Tuesday night in Straughn.
GIRLS
STRAUGHN 59,
OPP 23
Straughn came out on fire and used their strong start to come away with a 59-23 victory.
Allie Kelley led the Lady Tigers with 14 points.
Tori Hicks finished with 11 points and Kelsey Kelley picked up 10 points.
Addie Jacobs led the Lady Bobcats with seven points.
BOYS
STRAUGHN 37,
OPP 35
In the final game of the evening, the Tigers held off the Bobcats in the final seconds to come away with a 37-35 win.
Opp went up 12-10 at the end of the first period, but Straughn battled back for a 22-20 lead at halftime.
Justin Peeples came up with a big shot at the end of the game to put Straughn up 37-35.
Opp had a good look from Erik Matthews at the buzzer, but the shot bounced off the rim.
“I thought we finished strong,” Straughn head coach Bradley Stephens said. “We got a little away from what we do at times. They did a good job of pressuring us and getting after us. It took us a little bit, but we finally started making adjustments. I felt like our execution kind of struggled at times and then there towards the end it started to come together. The hustle was there. We hustled hard all night. That was two really good teams. Opp is a heck of a team.”
Opp head coach Willie Edwards was pleased with the way his players played.
“That was good basketball game between two good teams,” Edwards said. “We knew it would be a good basketball game. Straughn has a very exceptional bunch, and Coach Stephens does a good job with them. I’m proud of our guys. It’s hard to come over here and win. You have to play good basketball to do it and I thought we played good enough. If we make a few free throws at the end, it makes the difference.”
Trent Cleland led the Tigers with 16 points.
Matthew and Caleb Hinton led the Bobcats with eight points each.