Panthers smother Hawks in district tilt
Panthers defender Hunter Click slid over to cut off the Hardin Valley sophomore,
then Lenoir City’s Ben Barr and Jagger McKelvey converged to leave Martin with no escape.
The ball slid from his grasp as the game slipped away from Hardin Valley, which fell to Lenoir City, 69-57, in a District 4-4A battle.
The loss brought a harsh end to a mixed week for the Hawks as they beat Jefferson County 66-58, in a non-district affair on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
Kymani Smith led HVA with 14 points that night while Colin Dyrness added 12 with 11 from Kristian Oliver.
Two days later, a bout of sickness left two of those scorers hampered against Lenoir City.
But, Arendt cited his team’s physicality as the primary difference in the two outings.
“One of the differences was my two lead guards had the flu, so they weren’t very good tonight,” Arendt said Friday. “But again, it’s the same thing. They were more physical. Jeff County was just as physical, but we made a choice in that game to play hard and to do our work early and keep them out of the paint. Today, we let them punk us.”
In the scoring column Friday, three Panthers reached double digits: Barr (14), Preston Smith (13) and McKelvey (12). Jax Sparks led HVA with 17, nine on three triples, while Dyrness buried three more 3-pointers as part of an 11-point outing.
Together, the two seniors led a Hawks roster that features seven sophomores and two freshmen on a team of fifteen.
“At some point, we’ve got to grow up,” Arendt said plainly. “The excuse of being young is over with. We were less physical. They were tougher, meaner and just a better basketball team than us from a physicality standpoint.”
HVA continued its district slate against Rhea County on Tuesday night, though the results were not available by press time.
Still, when asked Friday about how his team would move forward, Arendt pointed to the LCHS loss as a potential fork in the road.
“They need to marinate in this and let it hurt,” he said. “They need to make a decision about what kind of basketball team they want to be. Toughness wins at the high school level.
“We’re more skilled than they are, and I think (Lenoir City coach) Dylan (Brewster) would even admit that. They’re just tougher and they were better coached and played better.”
