Hornets sweep rival Spartans

The Herald-Sun | Christine T. Nguyen Hillside's Korrin Wiggins (42) goes up against Southern's Javon Riley (22) and Noah Chase (32) on Tuesday, December 19, 2012.

Talent, depth, execution and tenacious defense wins basketball games, and Hillside showed all four in abundance Tuesday night as the Hornets ran away from rival Southern 57-36 before a crowd estimated at 1,000 spectators.
In the girls’ game that opened the doubleheader, sophomore guard Justine Lyons shook off the effects of the flu with a remarkable 23-point, 14-rebound performance as Hillside won 70-51.
Hillside coach Ovester Grays couldn’t say enough about Lyons’ effort.
“She had a fever; she was really struggling,” he said. “I told her not to play tonight, but she was determined to play. Unbelievable (performance).”
On a night that star forward Jordyn Smith of Hillside (7-1, 1-0 PAC-6) was limited by foul trouble and only finished with 11 points, Lyons and Mylea McKennith did most of the damage. McKennith finished with 13 points.
Brianna Staton led Southern (3-5, 0-1) with 17 points, while Regene Watson and Arianna Tillman had nine each.
After the boys’ game, first-year Southern coach Kendrick Hall could only shake his head with admiration at Hillside’s tenacity.
“I coach this team, but I’m a basketball fan, too, and if you play hard to the end, I have to respect you,” Hall said after watching Hillside explode for 15 unanswered points in a 19-2 run that broke open a game the Hornets led 35-34 with 6:41 left.
The run didn’t end until Amari Hamilton stuck back a Southern offensive rebound with 50 seconds left in the game.
The PAC-6 opener for both teams was an often sloppy affair, a combination of full-court defensive pressure applied by a dozen or more Hornets and inconsistent ballhandling by Southern.
Southern turned the ball over 30 times to 16 for Hillside. The turnovers and poor shooting inside and outside more than offset Southern’s 37-26 domination on the boards.
Hillside coach Crasten Davis, who sported a bowtie instead of his usual suit and tie look, said he made the change to try to break Hillside out of a funk that’s seen the Hornets start games slowly and dig holes that have been tough to escape.
“I was trying something different to see if we could get off to a fast start,” Davis said. “We were better, but not where I want us to be. It’s a rivalry game and after we got the jitters out, I thought we were OK.”
The Hornets trailed 1-0 before the opening tip. R.J. Robinson was called for a technical foul for dunking the ball in warmups, and Tyran Cameron hit 1-of-2 from the line with the clock at 8:00.
Southern led 14-13 after one quarter, primarily on the strength of back-to-back 3-pointers by Hamilton preceding Isaiah Dickens’ 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Southern scored only four points on a pair of buckets by Javon Riley in the second quarter, while D’Ontray Johnson hit back-to-back layups to end the period and give Hillside a 22-18 halftime lead.
A Robinson 3-pointer and a layup and free throw by Malik Evans (game-high 13 points) to end the third quarter put Hillside up 35-30. Southern opened the fourth quarter with a layup by Isiah Maurice and a putback by Marvin Tillman to make it a one-point game before Hillside went on its game-ending run.

Hillside (B) 57, Southern 36
HILLSIDE — D’Ontray Johnson 4, R.J. Robinson 11, Malik Evans 13, Isaiah Dickens 3, Trevion Thompson 2, Marius McAllister 6, DeShon Self 9, Timothy Mangum 3, Marcus Bowling 3, Korrin Wiggins 3.
SOUTHERN — Tyran Cameron 5, Christian Joy 3, Jerrick Richmond 6, Shamiek Wilson 4, Marvin Tillman 2, Javon Riley 7, Isaiah Maurice 4, Amari Hamilton 8.
Hillside|13|9|13|22—57
Southern|14|4|12|6—36
3-pointers—Southern 2 (Hamilton 2), Hillside 4 (Robinson 2, Dickens, Mangum). Rebounds—Southern 37 (Tillman 9), Hillside 26 (McAllister 7, Self 6, Evans 6). Blocked shots—Southern 3 (Maurice 2), Hillside 5 (Evans 2, McAllister 2). Steals—Southern 6 (Wilson 3), Hillside 9 (McAllister 2, Johnson 2, Dickens 2). Assists—Southern 8 (Wilson 3), Hillside 12 (Dickens 4). Turnovers—Southern 30 (Wilson 5), Hillside 16 (Self 5). Technical foul—Robinson.
Records—Southern 2-6, 0-1 PAC-6 4-A; Hillside 7-2, 1-0.

Hillside (G) 70, Southern 51
HILLSIDE — Quneisha Graham 1, Tykyra Williams 8, Mylea McKennith 13, Sydney Brown 8, Justine Lyons 23, Mya Webb 5, Jordyn Smith 11, Moriah Bizzel 2, Khara Herring 2, Daesha Marshall 2.
SOUTHERN — Alexus Joyner 4, Arianna Tillman 9, Brianna Staton 17, Regene Watson 9, Addis Lemons 5, Raven Burford 2, Zaysha Tyson 5.
Hillside|10|25|19|21—70
Southern|8|17|9|15–51
3-pointers—Southern 2 (Staton 2), Hillside 4 (Williams, Brown, Lyons, Webb). Fouled out—Joyner, Lemons, Lyons, Marshall.
Records—Southern 3-5, 0-1 PAC-6; Hillside 7-1, 1-0.