PEARCY -- Lake Hamilton saw four players in double figures and the Wolves shot 52 percent from the floor Friday to remain undefeated in 5A-South play with a 57-43 win over J.A. Fair at Wolf Arena.
Senior guard Lane Kersey led the Wolves (12-2, 3-0) with 18 points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal on the night. Senior forward Kanaan Williams added 11 points with five boards and senior guard Mondo Watkins put up 10 points with nine rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Junior guard Malique Hill put up 12 points off the bench with a pair of assists.
As a team, the Wolves dished out 15 times, a season high.
"Our kids, they don't care who scores," said Lake Hamilton head coach Scotty Pennington. "They know that we've got -- any given night -- four or five or six different guys that does it.
"Even Adjani (Winston) has had nights where he's been in double-digits. They just do what they've got to do to win the game, and I think that's what makes them pretty special. I hope we continue to do that."
The Wolves led from the start with senior forward Clyde Hill connecting with Kersey just 20 seconds into the game for a layup followed by another layup, this time from senior post Jordan Erickson, off an assist from Watkins for a 4-0 lead with 1:42 off the game clock. Erickson found Kersey on the perimeter for a trey at the 5:01 mark to push the Wolf lead out to 7-0 before a foul at the 4:35 mark sent Fair senior guard Jacori Cranford to the line, where he made one of two.
The Wolves stretched their lead out to eight, but the War Eagles (6-8, 1-2) battled to keep the lead in single digits, pulling within six three times, the last time coming on a pair of free throws by senior guard Erlon Boose with 45 seconds remaining to make it 13-7 at the end of the period.
The War Eagles used the momentum of the final seconds of the opening quarter to pull within two in the opening 1:47 with buckets by Cranford and Boose, but a three-point play by Clyde Hill stretched Lake Hamilton's lead out to 16-11 with 5:58 left in the half.
The Wolves pushed out to a nine-point buffer with 3:51 to go, but J.A. Fair cut the spread back down to three points, 20-17, with 1:28 left in the half. Malique Hill hit a trey 20 seconds later for a 23-17 lead going into the break.
"The problem that I'm having with mine is they just don't want to buy in to what we're trying to teach," said War Eagles head coach Charlie Johnson. "We play good in spurts, and then we just lose it. I don't understand.
"We're just struggling right now. I don't know what it's going to take to turn the corner, but we're going to keep on plugging. That's all we can do."
Lake Hamilton opened the second half on an 8-0 run to push out to a 33-19 lead with 2:39 off the clock, but the War Eagles whittled at the deficit until they managed to get it back to single digits with 3:49 to go. The Wolves closed the period on a 7-2 run for a 40-27 lead going into the final eight minutes.
"We had some moments where we played really well, and we had some moments where we didn't," Pennington said. "It was kind of peaks and valleys today. We'd go on a run and push it out to 13 or 14, 11, and here they come storming back and get it to four or five.
"That's Fair. Coach Johnson has been there for ... it seems like 80 years and does a great job. Those kids play hard. You really have to put them away. They're not going to lay down."
The Wolves took their largest lead of the game just 2:31 into the final period, but Fair cut the deficit back down to nine with 1:15 to go on a trey by junior forward Jamison Bracy. Lake Hamilton secured the win with a 9-4 stretch.
"We're just getting to the point that we're getting started too late in the game," said Johnson. "We're getting behind 10 or 12, and then we've got to play like hell to try to catch back up. We just don't have that ability because I really don't have the subs that I need right now."
The War Eagles did beat the Wolves on the boards, pulling down 25 rebounds to Lake Hamilton's 19, which Pennington noticed.
"I went with a bigger lineup, even," he said. "I think a lot of it was they out-quicked us. It wasn't really that they were more physical.
"They just out-quicked us to some balls, some 50-50 balls. They are very quick and athletic. We're going to have to shore that up and do a better job of that, especially going over there Tuesday."
Senior guard Braylon Haynie led the War Eagles with 16 points, three steals and two assists. Cranford added nine points with four rebounds and an assist, and Boose had eight points with eight boards and an assist. Jailon Tyson had five rebounds, a steal, an assist and a blocked shot.
Lake Hamilton will travel across town on Tuesday to face the Trojans of Hot Springs (15-2, 3-0) in a rivalry matchup.
"I'm proud of us," Pennington concluded. "It's a big win. They're a good basketball team. They're going to be in the mix to make the tournament, I know. You have to protect home court.
"In this league, you're going to have to win at home. I still think whoever can go to Hot Springs and get a win has got a good chance to win the league. Tuesday night's going to be big."
Sports on 01/13/2019