WALL, TX — A key district matchup between the Wall Hawks and the Jim Ned Indians took place on Friday night, Feb. 10. With district championship implications on the line; the contest came down to the wire before the Hawks finally pulled out the victory, 54-46.
Both teams locked each other down on defense for much of the night as this game turned into a low-scoring affair. Wall pulled ahead by eight points midway through the second quarter, but a ferocious comeback from the Indians left the Hawks trailing at halftime, 20-19.
The Hawks came out of the locker room with a fire in their belly and fixed the issues that arose late in the first half. Augden Hallmark made his presence known by hitting multiple threes in the third quarter. Wall retook the lead with less than two minutes to go in the third and led 35-29 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Everson Armstrong stepped up in the fourth quarter after scoring a relatively quiet four points. He began driving the lane into the paint and scoring. Whenever Jim Ned adjusted and sent more players inside to guard him, he found an open man, usually Hallmark, who hit the open shot. Wall found themselves in a perfect position, up by five, with two minutes to go.
Jim Ned then had to foul to stop the clock, but Wall always ensured that Armstrong or Hallmark had the ball when the Indians fouled them. Hallmark made all six free throw attempts, and Armstrong made three out of his four. The Hawks claimed victory 54-46.
We caught up with Head Coach Travis Dawson after the game and asked what he thought of his team's performance against Jim Ned.
As the district stands now, Wall sits in first place as they await the results of the TLCA/Merkel game. If TLCA wins, then next Tuesday, Wall travels to TLCA for the season finale and district championship game. If the Eagles lose, TLCA must beat Wall for a share of the title.
Augden Hallmark led the Hawks with 21 points, followed by Everson Armstrong with 11 points.
Post a comment to this article here: