PEARCY, Ar. — Lake Hamilton senior Zac Pennington broke a school record — and maybe a state record — Friday night at the Wolf Arena against Texarkana Arkansas High.
Pennington’s eleventh 3-pointer in the third quarter is a new school record, which led the Wolves past Arkansas High, 87-47. The possible state record will have to be verified by Pennington’s father — Lake Hamilton coach Scotty Pennington. Ten of Pennington’s 3-pointers came in the first half.
“I got a little upset; not because Zac shot the ball extremely well,” said the Wolves’ coach. “After he had made a few it got to where his teammates would get the ball and try to find him to shoot the ball. It disappointed me because we forgot to play basketball. We should have been using him as a decoy, and capitalizing on what Texarkana was trying to do to stop him.”
Earlier this season Lake Hamilton (19-3, 8-2) raced out to a 30-3 lead in the first quarter on its way to an easy league win. That wasn’t the case Friday with the Razorbacks starting hot and building a 13-8 lead in the first four minutes.
Coach Pennington wakes up Wolves
The elder Pennington was quick to call a timeout, and let his players know what he thought of their early performance. It was message understook, and the Wolves with on a 31-0 run to take command.
“We had to find a way to wake them up a little,” said Pennington. “I’m glad they responded the way they did. They’re high school kids. It’s hard to get those kids to listen to you before the game when you’re playing someone that you’ve already beaten by 40 points on the road. Nothing you tell them will get them relaxed.
“I thought Texarkana played better than the first time. No. 13 (Zach Graf) scored 15 points in that first game, and scored 22 tonight. They shot the ball well, and handled the pressure a little bit better than they did the first time.”
Zac Pennington finished with 36 points, leaving the floor in the third quarter after making the record-breaking trey. His younger brother Zane Pennington scored 11 points, and 6-5 postman Charter Harris added 10. All 15 of Lake Hamilton’s players saw playing time before the game was over.