Hickman Mills overwhelms O’Hara

Friday February 27, 2009 7:15 PM
Team (Record)	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
O'Hara (16 - 10)	13	5	17	15	50
Hickman Mills (19 - 6)	9	14	16	25	64

The Hickman Mills Cougars, for just a few minutes, fell asleep Friday.

That’s how coach Chuck Pohlman described the way his team played in the third quarter of its 64-50 win over O’Hara in Class 4, District 13 championship.

After extending their lead to 11 points in the third quarter, the Cougars allowed a shorthanded Celtics team to cut the lead to four to begin the fourth quarter.

If the Cougars, 18-5, didn’t wake up, their season was sure to be over for the fourth straight time in the district final.

“We just relaxed on defense,” Pohlman said. “We’ve played this way all year. We don’t really blow very many teams out this year. I think we let people hang around too much.”

The Celtics, 18-9, sure did stay close even with two starters — junior guards Mark Braden and T.J. White and reserve junior guard Ronnie Miller all suspended for disciplinary reason.

But when the Cougars needed their best quarter of the season, they scored at will for 25 points. Hickman Mills started the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run that was fueled by a two dunks from sophomore center Jon Williams Jr.

“It was very intense in the huddle,” said Williams Jr. before the fourth quarter started. “I just knew I couldn’t put my head down.”

Williams Jr. didn’t, and he scored all of his nine points in the fourth quarter. Junior guard Brian Whitaker led Hickman Mills with 14 points.

“I started to think about how we couldn’t let our seniors down,” said Whitaker of not letting the season end at districts. “We knew we had to wake up and play ball.”

So the Cougars did wake up, and they did win. But Pohlman said he still wishes his team could find a way to blow teams out. Then again, he also said he feels comfortable this season when it comes to close calls.

“These guys,” Pohlman said, “they know how to win a lot of close games.”

Sion 35, O’Hara 30In a seesaw game, the Norte Dame de Sion Storm pulled away late, defeating O’Hara 35-30 in the girls Class 4, District 13 championship. The Storm used a 14-point fourth quarter to separate it from a Celtics team that continued to stay close behind the Storm for most of the game. Junior guard Teresa Turner led the Storm with 10 points.

O’Hara did have a chance to make a final comeback but failed to connect on opportunities from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

submitted by NATE TAYLOR - 2009-02-27 23:45:01

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