By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
TRUSSVILLE — The Hewitt Trussville Huskies welcomed the #1 team in the state in 5A boys’ basketball, the Ramsay Rams, into Bryant Bank Arena on Thursday night and sent them home with a loss. The game started slow for the Huskies, but they dominated the final three quarters of the game to get the big win heading into Christmas break.
“I’ve told the guys since I took the job that we are good enough to play with anyone in the state,” said Jeremy Monceaux, Hewitt’s head coach. “They are the number one team in 5A with a Division I prospect on the team and I don’t know if they knew we were good enough to go play with them. Then we got our feet under us and talked through some things and settled in.”
The first quarter was a bit slow for the Huskies as Ramsay outscored them 17-13 to start off. Ramsay used suffocating defense and sharp shooting to jump out to the lead. Hewitt’s Legion Gaston hit a three-pointer as time expired to give Hewitt a spark heading into the second quarter. Ray Rolley also had a three-pointer in the period and Reid Stodghill added three points of his own with a field goal and a made free throw.
The second quarter was a different story, as Hewitt began to settle in as mentioned before. The Huskies scored 19 while only allowing Ramsay to score 11. Ray Rolley led the way with eight points. The halftime score was 32-28 Hewitt.
The Huskies would come out of the locker room with defense on their mind. Ramsay would not score for the first half of the quarter and only put up 10 points to Hewitt’s 11. Rolley continued to be money shooting the ball as he was perfect for the frame with seven points. Huskies led 43-38 heading into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter would be the Karnell Smith show as he would have 11 of the Huskies’ 17 points to finish the Rams off by a score of 60-48.
The Huskies had three players in double digits on the night with Rolley leading the way with 20 points. Smith followed with 17 and Gaston had 11.
“We did the little things tonight. We didn’t have some of the mental mistakes we’ve had all season,” said Coach Monceaux. “This is a real important win for us. We’ve had a really good first semester. To have the tough losses we’ve taken and finish with a win right before we go to Christmas break is really big for our team. We played 17 games before Christmas. That is unheard of. So, we are going to get away from each other and away from the floor for four days and it’s nice to do that after a win.”
The Huskies improve to 12-5 headed into the much-needed break.