Holley overcame an eight-point first half deficit with a 25-8 second half run on their way to a 49-46 win over Oakfield-Alabama for their second win of the boys’ basketball season.
After getting outrebounded badly in the first half and trailing 24-16, the Hawks limited the Hornets to just five points in the entire third quarter. Nicolas Passarell, Derek McArthur and Chris Balys then knocked down three-pointers on three consecutive trips late in the third and McArthur also added a lay-up over the final minute as the Hawks tied and then took a 36-31 lead into the final eight minutes.
Holley continued to play tight defense, limiting the Hornets to one trey over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter while getting field goals from McArthur, Passarell,
Balys and Zach Vaccarelli to build their lead to ten points.
But Oakfield-Alabama would not go quietly, hitting on three straight trips down the floor to cut the Hawks lead to just three points with 1:39 remaining.
But Holley junior Dylan Hillabush hit a jumper with 82 seconds left and an old-fashioned three-pointer with 68 seconds on the clock to push the lead back to eight. The Hornets counter-attacked hitting on three-straight trips of their own to cut the Hawks lead to one point with 35 seconds remaining.
The Hornets missed on both free throws after an intentional foul was called with 14 seconds left and could not convert on three more shot attempts in the closing seconds.
“We haven’t been in many games like this, so we tried to stay up-tempo and able to handle the pressure late in the game,” Holley head coach Matt Hennard said.
Hillabush led the Hawks with a double-double scoring a team-high 14 points with ten rebounds. McArthur scored 13 points while Vaccarelli added 12 points and eight rebounds in just his third game back from injury. Balys and Passarell each added five points.
