Semoball

Holcomb girls basketball remains perfect in conference play, hands Campbell first conference loss 67-45

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Campbell's Macy Hendrix (10) and Holcomb's Selena Burress (33) go for a rebound in a varsity girls basketball game at Holcomb Thursday.

HOLCOMB - The Holcomb Hornets varsity girls basketball squad entered its season hoping to put together a perfect performance in the Bootheel Conference.

“One of our girls’ biggest goals is to win every single conference game and then perform well in our conference tournament,” Holcomb coach Alexa Stockton said. “We know it’s a tough task but we are trying to mark them off one by one. But it’s tough."

Holcomb added another conference victory to its checklist Thursday night. Holcomb improved to 4-0 in Bootheel Conference regular season play with a 67-45 victory against the visiting Campbell Camels.

“We’ve changed our defense a little bit and I think it helped us out tonight,” Stockton said.

Campbell, which entered Thursday without a regular-season conference loss, struggled to combat Holcomb’s full-court pressure defense from the get-go. The Hornets scored its first eights points on transition layups to jump out to an 8-2 lead by the 4:53 mark of the first quarter. Holcomb enjoyed a 21-10 lead by the end of the first quarter, increased its lead to 46-21 by halftime, and led 62-29 at the end of the third quarter before Campbell won the fourth quarter 16-5 to narrow the final margin of defeat to 22.

“We have a young squad and we are still developing into a high school team,” Campbell coach Laura Foster said. “We are basically a junior varsity team with two seniors right now. We’ve struggled with pressure at times, including tonight, and definitely need to continue to work on handling that better over the next few weeks before the postseason begins.”

Senior Macy Houart knocked down 10 2-pointers and a couple treys to pace Holcomb with 26 points. Senior forward Bailey Cupples added 18 points on eight 2-point buckets and a couple of made free throws. Selena Burress recorded a pair of buckets in the paint, hit a couple of treys, and made both free throws she attempted to finish with a dozen points for the Hornets.

“We are getting the ball up and down the floor quicker,” Stockton said of her squad’s offensive attack. “At times we’ve been in the habit of catching it and just waiting. When we play certain teams we do want to slow things down but are better at making layups than 3-pointers so we want to speed things up when we can.”

Sophomore Darcy Broglin and senior Hannah Littrell both scored in double digits for Campbell. Broglin mad six 2-point buckets and the only free throw she attempted on her way to a team-high 13 points. Littrell added four 2-pointers and made a couple of free throws to finish with 10 points.

“I think we finished our shots better and got to the free throw line more often tonight,” Foster said.

Campbell, which beat South Pemiscot 63-14 in Bootheel Conference play Monday, entered Thursday with a 3-0 mark in the conference standings. Campbell is back in action Tuesday when it hosts Gosnell in non-conference action.

“I feel like we are in a better position than I thought we would be in conference play,” Foster said. “I’m confident we should continue to get better and creep our way closer to the top of our conference as the season continues."

Holcomb, which won the Bootheel Conference regular-season title last season, has three conference games remaining. Holcomb hosts Senath-Hornersville Jan. 21 and hosts South Pemiscot Jan. 25 before it travels to Caurthersville for its final conference affair on Jan. 28. Holcomb (9-4) visits nearby Kennett in non-conference action Tuesday before it returns to conference play.

“We are just hoping to go down there and compete and give Kennett a good game,” Stockton said."

Holcomb 67, Campbell 45

CHS 10 17 8 16 - 45

HHS 21 25 16 5 - 67

CAMPBELL (45) - Marie Wheeler 6, Hanna h Littrell 10, Macy Hendrix 5, Darcy Broglin 13, Chloe Matthews 2, Elyssa Schatz 6, McKenzie Sevier 3. FG 20, FT 4/9, F 9. (3-pointers: Hendrix 1; Fouled out: Broglin).

HOLCOMB (67) - Macy Houart 26, Bailey Cupples 18, Allison Moody 2, Alyssa Brown 3, Maleigh Lemings 3, Selena Burress 12, Hannah Burk 3. Fg 28, Ft 6/11, F 13. (3-pointers: Houart 2, Brown 1, Burress 2; Fouled out: None).

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Campbell's Mabrey Patrick (2) and Holcomb's Hannah Burk (35) fight for a rebound in a varsity girls basketball game at Holcomb High School Thursday.
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