Red Tornadoes need OT to overcome St. Stephens

When things aren’t going so well, you sometimes simply just have to survive.

Hickory High’s boys did that Friday night on their home floor, holding off visiting archrival St. Stephens 60-53 in overtime to run their win streak to 12 games.

The victory kept the Red Tornadoes (15-2, 5-0) in first place in Northwestern 3A-4A basketball and left St. Stephens (11-6, 3-2) in third place behind Alexander Central.

Hickory won by connecting on eight of 10 free throws in overtime and by taking advantage of six turnovers by the Indians.

 “A win is a win,” said Hickory head coach Shawn Johnson. “But if we don’t play with more intensity, we won’t last long as far as being able to win this league or a playoff game. The effort we gave was pretty pathetic.”

The Red Tornadoes were up by 10 several times in the first half and they led 33-26 at the half.

The third quarter was back and forth, with Hickory keeping its lead at seven (44-37) heading into the final quarter.

St. Stephens began to whittle away at the lead in the fourth quarter.

A 3-pointer by Dillon Spencer cut the Hickory lead to 46-42. After a free throw from Zach Bumgarner, Drew Starkey buried a 3-pointer with three minutes, 14 seconds left to play to tie it at 46.

Hickory got two free throws from Zach Jarrett and two from Raheim Connelly to grab a 50-46 edge.

St. Stephens then got two free throws from Jordan James and he scored again with 1:07 to play for a 50-all tie.

The Indians had the last chance to win it in regulation when an off balance shot by Zach Houston was nearly tipped in by Starkey as the horn sounded.

“We’ve really stressed toughness over the past three or four days,” said St. Stephens head coach Murphy Post. “Just toughness in general, like doing the right thing and never giving up, even when things are stacked against you.”

Overtime didn’t bode well for the Indians. They had four turnovers on four consecutive possessions, and Hickory turned that into a 56-50 lead as Jarrett connected on four free throws and Jordan Walls-Davis two.

After a timeout, the Indians got a 3-pointer from Starkey to cut the lead to 56-53 but got no closer. Hickory made four more free throws to grab its 17^th straight win over the Indians.

Free-throw shooting played a key role in the outcome. Hickory connected on 25-of-38, while St. Stephens hit 13-of-25.

“Obviously, the difference in the game was our ability to make free throws,” Post said. “Then in overtime, I thought they just out executed us.

“Overall, you’re never happy with a loss, but I was really proud of the way our guys battled all night long.”

Jarrett led the Red Tornadoes with 12 points and Connelly added 10.

St. Stephens got 18 points from Starkey and 12 points from James.

“You have to give St. Stephens credit, they played well,” Johnson said. “But we played with zero passion and I was disappointed with our effort.”

HICKORY 58, ST. STEPHENS 30

Hickory’s girls remained unbeaten in league play at 5-0 with a victory over the Indians.

The Red Tornadoes (16-1 overall) jumped to a 24-5 first-quarter lead and led 36-17 at the half.

Taking advantage of 16 turnovers by St. Stephens in the third quarter, Hickory increased its lead to 55-22.

Yazmin Hannah led the Red Tornadoes with 17 points, while Danasha Witherspoon added 14 points.

St. Stephens (3-13, 0-5) got nine points from Keyona Hicks.

The Indians played without their only senior, as Victoria Lavalle has been lost for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).