Home again Friday night, the Patriots raised their game at least another octave in a stunning 56-44 win over Hoke County.
The Patriots, now 2-7 in the Mid-Southeastern Conference and 4-14 overall, were led by Leondra Smith. The freshman guard continued her emergence from a January scoring lull with 21 points, including six treys. Junior Stephanie Carter added 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
The victory over Scotland was the Patriots’ first in conference action in almost two years. Some longtime Patriot followers estimated that the win over Hoke County (4-5, 10-9) was the first in seven or eight years.
After the game, Smith directed the credit to the defensive effort by the team. The Bucks inside-outside scoring duo of Janie Hodges and Porcha Locklear was held to a combined 11 baskets in 34 attempts from the field.
“We were determined to beat them,” Smith said. “So we played good defense against their two best players. We’re playing as a team. It’s not about one player, it’s about the team.”
In December, the Bucks defeated the Patriots by 19 and 17 points within a span of five days, one of the losses coming in the holiday tournament at Pinecrest.
Hodges and Locklear were their usual pesky selves combining for 16 of the points as the Bucks took a 20-15 lead late in the second quarter of game three. Then a three-pointer by Smith set off a 7-0 run that put the home team in front 22-20 at the intermission.
A jumper by Locklear tied it at 22-22 before one from the side by the Pats’ Ryan Dixon started an 8-1 run. A pair of threes in the period by Smith helped her team take a 37-31 lead into the fourth quarter. With just under five minutes left in the game, a basket by Locklear, the sixth Buck point in a row, made the score 41-39 Patriots.
The home team didn’t blink.
In a period of about a minute, a trey by Smith, a drive for two by Satara Cain, and then Smith’s 37th basket from behind the arc this season made it 49-39 with 3:52 left in the game. Five missed free throws in a row by the Bucks and six late points by Carter cemented the win.
Smith credits a shooting tip from her father for getting her stroke back in order. After averaging 14 points per game coming into the holidays, she injured an ankle. In the first six games following a two-game layoff, she averaged just six points a game. After one of those struggles, Spencer suggested that his first year player might have hit a wall.
“Her dad and I talk a lot,” Spencer said. “He said that he saw the same thing. He told me he was going to get her some vitamins. He got her some Flintstones. All of a sudden she snapped out of it the last two games, and not only with her scoring. I’m thinking of going to the store and buying some.”
The Patriot coach credited Cain and Monique Jones with slowing down the mercurial Locklear, who finished with a quiet 18. Carter, Ryan Dixon and Tiffany Sealy combined to make Hodges work hard for her 13 points.
“We did an unbelievable job guarding them tonight,” Spencer said. “That was one of the best defensive performances by a team I’ve coached.”
The Patriots also put together a good game at the foul line. They made five for six down the stretch and 14 of 19 overall. Carter was seven for eight. The Bucks were a woeful 12 of 30.
The Patriots play three times this week starting with a Tuesday 6 p.m. date at Jack Britt. Wednesday they are at Richmond County making up last week’s postponed contest. They are back home on Friday against Westover.
The Pinecrest junior varsity (4-5, 8-8) dropped a 59-47 decision at Hoke County. Ebony Smith and Jahoda Wallace led the Pats with 13 points each.
Hoke 12 8 11 13 — 44
Pinecrest 11 11 15 19 — 56
Hoke - Shaw 2 2-2 6, Locklear 8 2-6 18, Hodges 3 7-14 13, Guadreau 1 0-0 2, Arrington 0 0-0 0, Hollingsworth 0 0-3 0, Easterling 2 1-5 5. Totals - 16 12-30 44.
Pinecrest - Smith 6 3-4 21, Jones 4 0-0 8, Carter 3 7-8 13, Dixon 1 0-0 2, Burwell 1 0-0 3, Cain 2 3-6 7, Saunders 1 0-0 2, Humphrey 0 0-0 0, Ransom 0 0-0 0, Sealy 0 0-1 0. Totals - 18 13-19 56.Three-point goals: Hoke 0; Pinecrest 7 (Smith 6, Burwell).
