By Erik Harris
TRUSSVILLE – Behind a stout defensive performance, the Hewitt-Trussville girls basketball team cruised past Oak Mountain, 58-32, on Friday night in Bryant Bank Arena.
“This week we had two days of practice, so we went back and revamped what we need to do on defense and I think we did a really good job of that,” said Hewitt-Trussville head coach Tonya Hunter.
Hewitt-Trussville kept the Eagles’ offense in check all night. On the offensive end, the Huskies drove into the paint often, and turned those opportunities into free throws.
Hunter’s girls finished the evening 21-of-32 from the charity stripe. Oak Mountain only shot nine free throws, connecting on four of them.
“That is huge for us. It’s the most positive thing we do right now,” said Hunter of her team’s ability to get free-throw opportunities. “A lot of people don’t think of that as offense, but it’s offense for us.”
Although Hewitt-Trussville dominated for most of the first half, it only led 30-20 heading into the locker room. The Eagles ended the second frame on a 7-0 run, which was sparked by two late buckets in the closing seconds.
Jacoby Sims got the surge started with a 3-point make from the top of the key before Kaily Rory got her hands on a sluggish pass and connected on a runner at the horn to cut the deficit to ten.
The third quarter started slow. A Gabby Hill free throw eventually broke a scoreless streak five minutes into the second half. Once Hill ended the scoring drought, Hewitt-Trussville kept the offense coming to claim a 41-25 advantage going into the final eight minutes of play.
“We’re trying to work on some stuff towards the end to complete a (full) game, and I think we did a good job of that,” said Hunter.
The Huskies wasted no time pouring points on the visitors in the fourth. Bailey Berry drove the baseline and finished with a lay-in moments before she buried a 3-pointer that gave her team a 48-28 advantage with 5:40 remaining in the game.
Hill ended that scoring flurry with a shot fired two steps beyond the 3-point line to swell an already insurmountable lead. The senior ended the contest with a game-high 18 points to go along with six rebounds.
Senior forward Kimberly Duffett ended the scoring with a baseline triple. She found an opening in the zone look and updated the score to 58-32 with less than a minute to play.
Fellow guard Morgan Kirk added another ten points to the winning effort. Berry went for nine points and London Coleman drove her way to an eight-point evening.
For Oak Mountain, Sims went for a team-high eight points.
Erik Harris is the Sports Editor for the Trussville Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @jeharris2 or email him at jmseharris2@gmail.com.