On Friday, December 6, the 2A Hackett Sr High Hornets and Lady Hornets took on the 4A De Queen Leopards. Although they didn’t get the win, it was some much needed and intense practice that Hackett needed to get them geared up for conference play. The Hornets came up short with a 55-30 score but they’re not gonna let it get them down. “Defensively we just haven’t shown the energy that is needed to be successful,” explained Head Coach, Kent Elmore. “The mentality of playing defense is something we haven’t quite figured out yet.”
“We had a bad shooting night and when those nights happen you have to be able to pick it up on the other end of the floor. We were able to get any open look we wanted but could not get any of them to fall. I expect us to come out with a much different team this Friday when we face the 1-5 Danville Little Johns. We will focus this week on defensive mentality and getting a lot of reps shooting the ball. Once our defense improves so will our offense and wins will follow.”
The Lady Hornets saw the same fate as the boys when it came to Danville. Hackett fell 43-27 to the Lady Leopards but it wasn’t without a fight. Kayla Richardson led with nine points while Faith Thomas followed with six. Autum Neal and Rain Vaughn each had four, and Madi Taylor and Jordyn Null pulled in two apiece. Head Coach for the Lady Hornets, Broc Adams, is getting ready for their upcoming game against the 4-2 Danville Lady Little Johns.
“Danville is a really good basketball team! We are going to have to take care of the basketball, first and foremost. They put a lot of pressure on the ball so our guards will have to be ready to go. I like where our defense is, we just need to continue working hard and improving each day. It’s always tough to play at Danville, so we just need to be focused on doing what we can control and not playing above ourselves!”
