Hall, Kahn combine for 41 points
FORNEY — The Sulphur Springs Wildcats traveled to Forney High School Friday night to take on Red Oak in the Area round of the playoffs. The Wildcats got to the Area round by defeating Lufkin, 78-55, in the Bi-District round.
Sulphur Springs opened the game the same way they’ve started a number of games this season, by scoring first on an alley-oop pass to Sadaidriene Hall. Cameron Kahn followed that by scoring on an offensive rebound, and less than a minute into the game, Red Oak used their first timeout trailing, 4-0. With the score 6-5, Hall and Kahn scored on consecutive plays again to spark a 10-0 run to push the Wildcats lead to 16-5 with 2:44 remaining in the first quarter. With just 10 seconds left in the quarter the Wildcats ran an inbounds play under the goal, where they found Kahn, who threw down a huge two-hand slam to give the Wildcats a 20-10 lead as time expired.
Red Oak got the ball to start the second quarter and on the opening possession made a lazy pass that Hall was able to pick off and turn into an easy transition layup. The two teams traded baskets for a huge majority of the frame, but Kahn was able to push the Wildcats lead to 15 points, scoring on an offensive rebound and drawing a foul on the play. Grayson McClure scored the final points of the half, knocking down his first 3-pointer of the game with just 45 seconds left. The Wildcats went into the locker room, leading 33-17.
Sulphur Springs came out of the locker room picking up right where they left off, as Kahn made a great backdoor pass to Hall that led to a dunk on the opening possession of the half. McClure followed this on the next play by knocking down a 3-pointer, and Red Oak had to once again use a timeout in the opening minute of a half with the Sulphur Springs lead up to 38-17.
Red Oak went on a quick 5-0 run that would come to an end as McClure drained his third 3-pointer of the night. Neither team was able to get much of an edge on the other until the final minute of the quarter, when Hall threw down monster slam dunks on back-to-back plays, the second of which came with 9 seconds remaining in the quarter, and the Wildcats led, 49-29, entering the fourth quarter.
Kahn got the fourth quarter started scoring on a layup and drawing the foul, and Hall scored on the very next play, making the Sulphur Springs lead 54-31. The Wildcats were able to cruise from that point on and walked away with the 62-38 win.
Hall was the leading scorer for the Wildcats, finishing with 21 points, 12 of which came in the first half. Kahn was right behind him with 20 points. Kahn had 11 first-half points and went 3-4 from the free throw line. McClure also finished in double-digits, ending the game with 12 points. All of his points came via the 3-ball. Boo Wilkerson and Lamodrick Johnson also scored for the Wildcats; they had 6 and 3 points, respectively.
This win advances the Wildcats to the Regional Quarter Finals where they will face No. 1 Lancaster on Tuesday, March 3. The game will be held at Rockwall Heath High School. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m.