Hobgood downs Northeast

Published 9:59 pm Friday, February 12, 2010

LASKER – Hobgood Academy rolled to the Tarheel Independent Conference championship here Thursday night.

The Raiders knocked off Northeast Academy 63-36 to win the league title and earn a number one seed heading into the TIC tournament next week.

Hobgood jumped out to an early lead, rolling to a 12- 2 advantage by the end of the first quarter.

Shahe Manning hit the first bucket for the Raiders followed by a bucket from Gray Smith. Manning then added a pair of free throws to make it 6-0.

Northeast got a hoop from James Pope to stop the spurt, but Hobgood answered with another 6-0 run. Hank Edmondson had four points on the spurt while Dusty Knox added two points.

Pope and Logan Wheeler hit back-to-back threes for the Eagles to open the second period as they closed within 12-8, but Hobgood responded with a 10-0 run that extended their lead to 22-8.

Edmondson scored the first five points of the spurt followed by a triple from Smith. The final hoop came from Knox as the visitors led by 14.

Cody Fleetwood stopped the spurt with a hoop for Northeast, but Thomas McDowell answered for Hobgood.

Jud Smith then hit a pair from the free throw line to get Northeast within 24-12, but it was as close as they would get.

Hobgood rolled off 11 unanswered thanks to six points from Manning as they took a 35-12 lead with 4:48 to play in the first half.

Fleetwood sandwiched a pair of hoops around an Edmondson bucket to get the Eagles with 37-16, but McDowell hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Raiders a comfortable 43-16 lead.

Wheeler buried a triple for the Eagles with 2:03 to play in the second quarter, but the Raiders scored the final six points thanks to a triple from McDowell and a hoop by Jimmy Stewart, and led 49-19 at the halftime break.

The Raiders opened the second half on a 9-0 spurt that gave them a 58-19 edge and cruised to the TIC win from there.