PEARCY, Ar. — Lake Hamilton got knocked down early in conference play by rival Pine Bluff. The Wolves are now back on their feet, and winning.
The Wolves buried 12 three-pointers with junior Ty Robinson and senior Zac Pennington combining for nine of those treys in Lake Hamilton’s, 70-41, victory over Sheridan Friday night at the Wolf Den. Robinson finished with a game-high 26 points, and Zac Pennington scored 17.
“This was more of what we’re capable of doing,” said winning coach Scotty Pennington. “The Pine Bluff game was our fifth game in six days. Tonight you got to see the clean, fresh Wolves that are very capable of shooting the ball well. When we got to ball moving we were really hard to stop.
“Defensively I thought we were pretty smothering at times. (Justin) Crews came into the game averaging 24 points per game. He scored 13 tonight. I’m proud of our effort. This is a big conference win for us. Sheridan is one of the best coached (Joe Scott) teams in our league, and this is one of their better groups.”
Among the players the elder Pennington was praising for their defensive play were LaBraun Christon, Easton Hurley and Charter Harris. The Wolves’ coach took his starters out with three minutes left. The new players contributed by building Lake Hamilton’s biggest lead (29).
Sheridan Yellowjackets never could catch up
The Yellowjackets never led with Lake Hamilton scoring the first five points of the game. Zac Pennington and Robinson combined for 21 of the Wolves’ 25 points in the first quarter.
Lake Hamilton used a lot of energy in the first eight minutes. The hot outside shooting wasn’t visible. Still, the Wolves outscored Sheridan (6-5, 0-3) in every quarter.
Hurley, Zane Pennington and Condley also swished three-pointers for the Wolves. The only other Yellowjacket scoring in double digits was Peyton Free with 11.
“We really scheduled a brutal non-conference schedule,” said Coach Pennington. “I do believe that brutal schedule will pay off in the end.”
The Wolves won’t be back in action at home until Dec. 29-31 in Lake Hamilton’s Classic.