Hornets wow Riverside
The Rayville High School Hornets have established themselves as the greatest basketball team to ever play for Rayville High with their signature win over undefeated Riverside Academy of Reserve.
Riverside, a select school, was designated as he number one team in Louisiana in all classifications. Would you believe the Hornets won 82-64? It seems that the lack of competition in district makes no difference. They can rise to the occasion when the situation demands.
The game was played in Scotlandville in what was called the Hall of Fame Game. Scotlandville’s gym is a little larger than the Hornets but it overflowed. People who got there late were denied entrance by the fire marshal. And speaking of the crowd, the Hornets may have had as many, if not more, than Riverside.
The Hornets did not delay and rushed out to a 24-17 first-quarter lead. But Riverside rebounded and cut the lead to 36-35 at midpoint. That’s when coach Damon West spun his half-time magic and the Hornets came out energized.
Either that or their great natural condition gives them the edge. I suppose it was a little of both.
“The other teams seem to run out of gas,” Coach West said. “We never run out of gas because we run on diesel.”
And everybody knows that the fuel for the long haul.
Though the Rebels got ahead a point or two, the third period belonged to the Hornets and when the horn sounded they were up by twelve 58-46. This seemed to take the starch out of the opponents and at times the Hornets were up by twenty or more. The 30-plus guy, Bulfer, went on a tear with two 3’s on his way to 11 fourth-quarter points. But it didn’t matter. This was after the game had been decided, plus he had only two other teammate score, one with 5 points and the other with 2.
The man of the hour for Rayville may heave been JaMarkus Wilson who scored 14 points and was master of the boards with 14 rebounds. His cousin, Mylik Wilson was high scorer in the game with 28 that included three 3’s and 5 of 7 free throws. Nashaun Ellis got eleven of his 22 points in the first quarter when they really count. He had two 3’s in the first and those just seem to take the heart out of the opposition.
Rashad Naylor, who I inadvertently failed to mention last week, is back and in shape. He is an integral part of the Hornet five. And he contributed 13 well placed points. More about him and Samuel Sledge who went to California to play in an all-star football game between Louisiana and California.
JaMicheal Wilson concluded the scoring with 5 but with a valuable 3-pointer in the second quarter when the Hornets scored only 12 points.
There are only two home games left before the playoffs. The first is Ferriday on Feb. 2. If you get this paper early come on at five o’clock an see the junior varsity play at 5 p.m., varsity girls at 6 p.m. The girls may need you for this one. They only won by 5 at Ferriday.
The boys are scheduled to play at 7 p.m. Ferriday is probably the second best team in district.