Mineral Wells Index
—
By TONY EIERDAM
KENNEDALE – Kennedale proved again why they are the top team in District 6-3A and the third-ranked team in Class 3A here Tuesday night.
Paced by a game-high 21 points from V.J. Hughes and 19 points from Ty Charles, the Wildcats raced past the Mineral Wells Rams, 84-50, to sweep the season series and stay undefeated in league play with an 8-0 mark.
The loss drops the Rams to 5-3 and in third place.
“Kennedale is a great team, and they shot the ball extremely well,” Rams head coach Aaron Pappas said. “We played a good first quarter, but then they do what they do and went on a 17-2 run and before we knew it we were down 16.
“Then they broke it open in the third quarter when Charles hit three threes in a row. There is nothing you can do about it. They are just a better team than us.
“The guys never stopped playing, and I am always proud of their effort. The guys played hard from start to finish. We just got beat by a better team.
“They played better defense than we did, and they just beat us in all faucets of the game.”
The Rams got off to a good start as DaShawn Hicks, who finished with a team-high 19 points, hit a fade-away jumper from the lane and A.J. Williams scored on a layup off a feed from Ricky Scott as the Rams led 4-2.
Charles hit a pair of jumpers and Hughes added a bucket to give the Wildcats an 8-4 lead, but Rams point guard Biren Clardy answered with a three-point play when he scored on a layup, was fouled, and connected on the charity shot to cut the lead to 8-7.
However, Kennedale went on a 10-2 run to close the opening period to take an 18-9 lead.
The Wildcats built a 16-point cushion early in the second period before the Rams made a brief run to slice the lead.
Scott nailed a three-point bucket from the right perimeter, Williams scored on a layup and added a free throw and Hicks drove the lane for a bucket as MWHS cut the hosts’ lead to 29-18.
But again, Kennedale ended the period with a rally as the ‘Cats went on a 9-2 run to take a 38-20 lead at the half.
Kennedale put the game away early in the third quarter with a 14-4 run, with nine of the points coming from Hughes, to increase its lead to 52-24.
MWHS, however, refused to quit, and came back with a brief 6-0 run on buckets by Scott, Jacoby Prestwood and Williams to cut the lead to 52-30.
But the Wildcats followed with 13 unanswered points and cruised to a 34-point win.
