Boys’ game features teams that played the Big House last spring
Photo: Olive Branch’s Trey Wall drives for two of his team-leading 14 points against Horn Lake. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
Friday’s basketball doubleheader featured two DeSoto County teams with a good basketball history. In fact, the boys’ game between Horn Lake and Olive Branch pitted teams that were playing in the Big House back in March in the 6A semifinals. Unfortunately, neither squad was able to advance to the state championship game.
This season, Olive Branch has remained a 6A school for basketball while Horn Lake is among the county teams bumped up to the new 7A classification. So Friday’s game was a good early season test of strong basketball programs but at the end of the test it was Olive Branch that came away with passing grades, 75-59 over the Eagles.
Olive Branch jumped out quickly to a 20-8 lead and had a 40-24 advantage at halftime.
“The start of the game we were trying to be aggressive which we did a good job of in the first half,” said Olive Branch coach Eric Rombaugh.
The Eagles were able to cut the deficit to 12 points after halftime but the Quistors fashioned a 57-42 margin after three quarters of play. Again, Horn Lake was able to cut the lead to 11 points early in the final eight minutes but Olive Branch would pull away for the 16 point victory.
Trey Wall paced the Quistors in scoring with 14 points, followed by Caleb Hunt with 12. Horn Lake was led by Ronald Wilson’s 14 points, followed by Jordan Simmons with 13.
“Trey sets the tone for us,” Rombaugh said about Wall. “He sets the tone about the toughness we need to go about every game. On defense, he’s like a quarterback out there, constantly talking and making sure everybody is in the right spots.”
The boys game was preceded by a girls contest between two schools that also have a rich history of playing in big games. Olive Branch pulled away for a 55-38 victory over a Horn Lake team that reached the third round of the 6A playoffs last year and was one victory away from reaching the state semifinals and the Big House.
The Lady Quistors had a 16-8 after one quarter and led 33-12 at intermission, having held the Lady Eagles to just four points in the second period of play. The lead became 44-25 at the third quarter break entering the final eight minutes of the game.
“I felt our defensive pressure was a good tonesetter for us right off the bat,” Olive Branch coach Jason Thompson said. “I thought we were very disruptive and hounded and harassed them to the point where they (Horn Lake) started seeing things that weren’t there.”
Brianna Black’s 18 points lead Olive Branch in scoring followed by Jakhidra Anderson’s 14 points.
Thompson said his team has to depend on Black for a lot of the offense, but also knows his opponents will be well aware of that, as well.
“She’s the experienced player that sets the tone for us and everybody on the opposing team knows who she is,” Thompson said. “She’s one of those kids who will get it going and set the table for us.”
Horn Lake was paced by LaMyah Harris and Ja’Miya Jones, each with nine.
