Lake Hamilton took a slim lead into the fourth quarter and protected it, leaving Wildcat Arena with a 70-62 victory over El Dorado on Friday. The Wildcats saw their two-game win streak stopped and fell to 6-11 overall and 3-3 in 5A-South play. The Wolves improved to 13-5, 3-2.
The game was knotted at 23-23 in the second quarter before Lake Hamilton’s Malique Hill hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Wolves a lead they would never relinquish. Lake Hamilton led 32-26 at the half and 52-45 going into the fourth after a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Cade Robinson.
El Dorado got as close as 54-47 on a pair of free throws by Brendan Simmons with 6:34 left in the game. But the Wolves responded with buckets by Adjani Winston and Chase Jessup and never lost control the rest of the way.
“We got just enough stops,” said Lake Hamilton coach Scotty Pennington. “We know they’re good offensively. We felt like we could score, and we did. We got just enough stops at a key time in the third quarter to get the lead out where it needed to be to win the game. I didn’t think it was our best defensive game. But, when we had a four- or five-point lead, we got a few (stops) in a row to get it out to 9-or-10 and then we were smart with it at the end.”
Winston led the Wolves with 21 points while Hill scored 18.
Isaiah Ramey paced the Wildcats with 19 points with Simmons adding 10. Jarmel Love and David Ayree each scored nine and Jordan Tubbs contributed seven.
Simmons was hampered by foul trouble. The senior guard picked up his third foul with 3:10 left in the third and his fourth less than a minute later. He fouled out with 3:04 left in the fourth.
“Obviously,” answered Pennington when asked if Simmons’ foul trouble impacted the game. “He’s a really good scorer. He goes out, that hurts them. Some of the other guys you can help off of. You can’t help off him. That frees things up for Ramey when (Simmons) is in the game. When he’s out of the game, you can help a little more and stop Ramey. So, yeah, that was big.”
The Wildcats won at Hot Springs Lakeside 70-58 on Wednesday. El Dorado trailed 32-12 midway in the second quarter.
Love led the Wildcats with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Tubbs scored 16 while Simmons contributed 11 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, along with a solid defensive effort in the post.