On senior night inside Good Hope Gymnasium, the Lady Raiders overcame a slow start on their way to a 58-41 win. Good Hope caught fire in the second half and notched yet another big win, this time over 4A No. 6
Good Hope found themselves in a rare hole early in the first, down 8-0 just a couple of minutes into the first quarter. Sophomore Ivey Mattox was knocking down shot after shot in her way to 11 first-half points to keep the Lady Raiders in it. At one point she scored 9 straight for the Lady Raiders after nailing three straight 3’s.
Junior Rudi Derrick poured in all 7 of hers as she and Mattox accounted for all of the second quarter points for Good Hope to give them a 23-22 halftime lead.
The second half was never in doubt as the Tetro twins got hot. Heather Tetro, who hit four 3’s in the second half, put the nail in the coffin with a four-point play in the 4th quarter. Heather finished with 15, and Bailey added 11. Mattox wrapped up her night with a game-high 15, four coming from 3 point land.
Head coach Justin Aby had this to say, “We knew we had a tough schedule coming into the season, but they’ve really battled and played well. I’m proud of the way they’ve come out and competed, but we have one more huge test Thursday night on the road.”
One last challenge stands between Good Hope, now 26-3 on the season, and that’s going on the road to play 3A No. 3 Susan Moore, who also recently won their county tournament. The Lady Raiders won the first contest early in the year 62-41, and will look to extend their win streak to 15 before heading into post-season play.
Varsity Boys: Hancock Huge 4th Quarter Seals Win Over 4A No.9 Priceville
It wasn’t great, and it wasn’t pretty, but Good Hope once again found a way to win 46-39 over 4A No. 9 Priceville. If you’re the type that loves high-scoring affairs then this one simply wasn’t for you. But if you do happen to love the tough defense with the gritty old-school style of basketball, then listen up.
Good Hope fell behind quickly after opening back-to-back threes by the Bulldogs but quickly climbed back in it after Colton Lindsey’s 6 points in the first quarter. Entering the second up 10-8 turnovers plagued Good Hope. Priceville’s defense just swarmed the usually high-powered Raider offense, and the turnovers limited them to just a handful of shots in the second quarter as Priceville pulled ahead 17-14 at the half.
Junior Charlie O’Neil opened the third with back to back threes to help jumpstart the Raider offense, and then the Malin brothers Tanner and Tucker closed the period out with 5 straight points for Good Hope to finish off an 8-0 run to notch it at 28 apiece with 8 minutes to play.
I could say a lot to sum up the 4th quarter, but I’ll sum it up in two words: Weston Hancock. The sophomore was literally everywhere: knocking down clutch free throws, getting huge boards on both sides of the floor, taking a charges, getting a block. He filled the stat sheet up in the fourth and almost single-handedly pulled Good Hope ahead for the win.
I don’t highlight his play to diminish anything his teammates were doing, but goodness, did he play like he had something to prove. And really, for the second game of the last four came up huge in the fourth to pull out a win that was often in doubt. That’s what is so dangerous about this Raider team: any night, any player can go off and make a tremendous impact on the game.
Head coach Drew Adams had this to say on Hancock’s big night, “He obviously came up huge for us, much like he did against West Point in the county tournament. What’s nice about this team is one guy may be off one night but on the next. We just have so many contributing.”
With their 10th straight win, Good Hope will wrap up their regular season Thursday at Susan Moore in the battle of the county champions. Susan Moore’s varsity programs won both county championships as well, setting up the battle of the best. But before that, Tuesday will bring something that has kept Coach Adam up at night ever since they clinched a share of 1st in the area: the area coin flip.
Of course, that’s sarcasm, but Coach Adams is very self-aware of his coin flip losses over the years. Tomorrow at noon he and the Oneonta head coach will meet at a disclosed location to flip to see who gets the No. 1 seed and hosting rights. The No. 1 seed will take on Curry, who upset the now No. 3 seed Hanceville in overtime tonight. “Listen, I’m 0-3 in coin flips and don’t think this one will be any different, but that said we’ve done all we can do and now we just have to take care of business no matter who or where we play.”
