Hot Springs turned up its defense to ultimately turn out the lights on Little Rock McClellan on Tuesday night.
The Trojans forced eight turnovers over the game's final four minutes and used a game-closing 14-4 surge to pull away for a 72-58 road victory in the Lions' Den.
"That's what we hang our hats on," Hot Springs Coach Antoni Lasker said of the way his team ramped up its defensive intensity. "We got beat up pretty bad against West Memphis a couple of weeks ago, and we challenged these guys to be physical. It might've cost us on fouls, but at the same time, we persevered because of that.
"We knew it'd be a scrappy ballgame, especially with the loud environment and the fans being right down on the floor. But we were able to create some turnovers that led to some scoring opportunities for us that helped us get out of here with a win."
Lasker, who played at McClellan for four years and served as an assistant coach under longtime Lions Coach Chris Threatt, is in his second year guiding the Trojans.
He noted how pleased he was with the way his team maintained its composure in a game that was testy at times, but one the Trojans took over down the stretch.
Hot Springs (1-1) trailed 51-49 after a free throw from McClellan sophomore guard Noah Buckley with 6:55 remaining in the game.
The Trojans scored nine of the next 10 points, six of which resulted off steals, to take a 58-52 lead. Buckley and senior guard Eric Woods each hit free throws on consecutive possessions to get the Lions within 58-54, but a layup from senior forward Santiair Thomas kicked off the Trojans' decisive run.
Thomas finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds for Hot Springs, which trailed 28-27 at halftime and was down by as many as six in the third quarter. Junior forward Caleb Campbell also had 20 points, while junior guard Jadyn Walker scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half.
Senior forward Traevon Darrough had 18 points and 15 rebounds for McClellan (0-2), which lost eight seniors from last season's team that reached the Class 4A semifinals. McClellan has several players on its roster that saw little action a year ago, but Threatt wasn't about to blame inexperience for the Lions' fourth-quarter meltdown.
"We're turned it over some, but you've got to give Coach Lasker and Hot Springs credit," he said. "We relieved some of that pressure and scored for three quarters. But the benefit of pressing all game is that at some point, it gets to the team you're pressing.
"To [Hot Springs'] credit, they stayed aggressive and ultimately it benefited them in the end."
Woods and junior forward Darius Eason both had 11 points for McClellan, which shot 22 of 48 (45.8%) for the game but threw the ball away 25 times. Hot Springs, which finished 30-of-64 (46.8%) shooting, had just 9 turnovers.
Sports on 12/04/2019