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Sulphur Springs senior Boo Wilkerson shoots from long range in Tuesday’s district opener win against Pine Tree. Wilkerson had 15 points, including three made 3-pointers. Staff photo by Tyler Lennon
4 finish in double-digits
The Sulphur Springs Wildcats hosted Pine Tree Tuesday for their district opener. The Wildcats entered the day with a lot of momentum, winning six of their past eight games.
Junior Justin Haire got things started, scoring the first six points of the game on a pair of post moves and a jump shot. Sulphur Springs kept the hot streak going, pushing their lead to 18-0 before finally allowing Pine Tree to score.
With the time winding down in the first quarter, senior Boo Wilkerson knocked down a very deep 3-pointer to push their lead to 25-3. Pine Tree scored a bucket of their own in the final seconds, and Sulphur Springs led 25-5 at the end of the first frame.
Senior guard Jatavion Hall opened the second quarter by hitting a 3-pointer from the corner. The Wildcats followed that with Lamodrick Johnson throwing an alley-oop pass to Haire who threw down a monster dunk to go ahead 30-7.
Junior Caleb Alexander knocked down a 3-pointer a few minutes later, before Pine Tree started to put some offensive together. They closed they half out on a 10-4 run, cutting the Wildcats lead to 41-21 at the end of the first half.
Wilkerson sparked a run for the Wildcats, scoring eight quick points, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers and scoring on one layup. Junior Cason Arrington scored in the post with just 14 seconds left in the frame, pushing their lead to 65-34 at the end of the third quarter.
Sulphur Springs pulled their starters for a vast majority of the final frame, and went on to win the game by a final score of 73-54.
Haire was the leading scorer for the Wildcats, finishing with 16 points, 10 of which came in the first half. Right behind him was Wilkerson who had 15 points, knocking down three 3-pointers in the win.
Also finishing in double-digits were sophomore Kodrick Turner with 12 points and junior Parker Whisenhunt with 10 points.
The next leading scorers for Sulphur Springs were Johnson and Alexander who had eight points and five points respectively. Also scoring were Hall with three points and Arrington and Jackson Darrow who each had two points.
The Wildcats will return to action with a home game Tuesday against Greenville. They are set to begin at 4 p.m.