By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
TRUSSVILLE — Tuesday night, the Hewitt Trussville Husky boys’ basketball team welcomed Tuscaloosa County to town for a big matchup. Though they fought hard, the Huskies fell one point short in the overtime contest.
“I thought our guys battled pretty hard in the game for the most part, but we have to find a way to close out close games against good teams,” said Jeremy Monceaux of Hewitt.
The first quarter started out with both teams putting up 12 points each. Karnell Smith led Hewitt with five points, followed by Emeka Anwah with four.
Tuscaloosa County shut down the Husky offense in the second, only allowing three points as Ray Rolley had the lone field goal to pair with Braxton Brown’s made free throw. The Hewitt defense didn’t allow many more points, allowing only nine points for the Wildcats.
The teams swapped roles in the third as Hewitt scored another 12 points while holding the Wildcats to just three points. Reid Stodghill put up six points while Anwah added five for the Huskies. The quarter ended with a score of 28-24 Hewitt.
Tuscaloosa County exploded for 16 points in the fourth quarter to keep themselves in the game and get the contest into overtime. Hewitt would have another 12-point period led by Rolley and Stodghill who had five points each, making it 40-40.
Everyone got more basketball than they expected on this night as the Wildcats and Huskies were in the thick of a heavyweight battle. Tuscaloosa County came out with the one-point win, 51-50 by scoring 11 points in the extra period to Hewitt’s 10.
Leading scorers for the Huskies were Reid Stodghill with 17 points and Ray Rolley with 13.
“We have had three games this season where we have been up 4-8 points late in the fourth and have not gotten the job done,” said Monceaux. “Missed free throws, not rebounding, mental mistakes defensively. We can play with an team in the state, but our mental, emotion and physical toughness down the stretch has to get better.”
The Huskies (now 10-4) welcome the number one team in class 5A on Thursday night in the Ramsay Rams.