The win came less than 24 hours after Hug’s 46-44 loss to the Raiders at Reed Friday.
“It was just the simple things,” Hug coach Brian Voyles said that was the difference between Friday and Saturday’s games. “It was getting our defensive energy up, trying to get points from defense and not worrying about offensive sets.”
Reed (10-11, 6-4 High Desert League) trailed 29-25 to Hug with 3:06 left in a slow third quarter before it retook the lead. Lennox Pierce was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three of his free throws. D’Marshae Vann then made good on a layup after a Hug traveling violation. Next, Taylor Yancey hit a shot after a Reed steal, for a 32-29 Raiders’ lead. Reed continued adding on the points to take a 38-33 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Hug came out hot in the fourth and put up eight unanswered points to take a 41-38 lead with 4:49 left in the game. Reed caught back up and tied the game at 41-41 on a Vann steal and layup. Courtney Garnder put in a layup to give Hug a 46-44 lead. The Hawks did not relinquish the lead from there. A Tre Johnson layup and a Brian Bennett putback, gave Hug a 50-44 lead with less than two minutes left in the game.
Vann hit two free throws to pull Reed within four and keep the Hawks on their toes but the Raiders were forced to foul the rest of the game. Hug made 6 of 6 free throws in the final 1:14 of the contest, accounting for the 56-50 win.
“Offensively we were getting good looks, they just weren’t going in,” Reed coach Dustin Hall said. “We wanted to attack and take good shots.”
Hug wound up outscoring Reed 23-12 in the fourth quarter.
Duke Williams had 18 points for the Hawks, who improved their record to 14-8 overall and 6-4 in league.
Vann had 28 points for the Raiders. He had 11 of Reed’s 12 fourth-quarter points.
“We would like to get a balanced attack,” Hall said. “D’Marshae was getting to the rim and getting good shots and being aggressive. A couple guys missed some open shots that they’re going to make.”
Both squads started out sluggishly in the first quarter. They were tied at 6-6 with three minutes left in the opening quarter. Hug scored five more points to take an 11-6 lead, capped by a three-point basket from Bennett. Reed hit two shots of its own, a layup by Mike Powell and another by Vann with two seconds left, to close the gap to one point, 11-10 after the first period.
“We had a lot of intensity,” Hall said. “Both teams played hard. They just made more plays than we did. They had more rebounds, got more loose balls and had less turnovers.”
Hug and Reed traded baskets in the second quarter until Hug’s Jaevis Johnson capitalized on a Reed turnover for a bucket that gave the Hawks a 20-16 lead with 3:58 left in the half. Shortly thereafter, Gardner rebounded a missed shot for Hug and deflected it back into the hoop for a 24-20 Hug lead. Vann hit the second of two free throws to get the Raiders within three at halftime, 24-21.
Reed’s Aaron Greenblat took a hit in the first quarter and left the game. After receiving some on-site attention his family took him to the hospital due to a concussion, Hall said.
“He took a pretty good shoulder to the head,” Hall said. “That hurt us because that’s one less quality player with a lot of minutes. We had to shorten up our bench a little bit. I think that had a big effect on us.”
Reed plays again Tuesday at North Valleys at 7 p.m.
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