NEESES -- The Calhoun County Saints boys' basketball team made it 72 straight wins by delivering a 76-40 thumping to Hunter-Kinard-Tyler Tuesday night.

The Saints (23-0, 8-0) began the game by outscoring the Trojans 20-9 in the first quarter. Calhoun County forced eight turnovers to jump out to an early lead.

"We didn't force as many turnovers as we usually do," Saints head coach Zam Fredrick said, "but we shot the ball pretty well from the floor. I though we shot a pretty good percentage."

Late in the first quarter, The Trojans lost guard Alex Edwards to a knee injury. H-K-T only turned the ball over three times in the second quarter, but wasn't able to capitalize offensively. The Trojans (10-12, 7-2), who only scored five points in the second quarter, trailed 34-14 at halftime.

"They're very aggressive," Williams said. "They play great defense. They take you out of a lot of things that you want to do."

Calhoun County also crashed the boards on the offensive side of the ball to score key second chance points. The Saints' nine offensive rebounds helped them to take a 54-25 lead heading into the final quarter of play.

"That's desire," Williams said "When the ball comes off [the rim], they're already underneath. They're a little bit bigger and a little bit more physical than us. We just didn't have the desire to get that rebound."

Alshon Jeffrey helped the Saints continue to extend their double-digit lead. Jeffrey scored nine of his game-high 21 points in the fourth. According to Williams, this game was very important for his team despite the loss.

"We've got to learn from this," he said. "This team is still in a learning process and it's going to continue to learn. What we have to learn now is not to panic, how to handle the press, and meeting aggression with aggression."

In earlier action, the Lady Trojans edged out the Lady Saints 43-41.

"Melinda Brimfield led the Trojans with 19 points while Shelia Jamison contributed 13 points to the win. The Lady Saints were led by Latoya Caldwell with 18 points.

BOYS

CC (76) - Alshon Jeffrey 21, DeAndrea Guinyard 11, Dondre Houser 10, Shamier Jeffrey 10, Glover 7, Davenport 5, Rumph 2, Bonnette 2, Mack 2, Fredrick 2, Davis 2, Haynes 1, Wolfe 1.

HKT (40) - Ty Fulmer 12, Diondre James 11, Smith 7, Robinson 4, Jamison 4, Edwards 1, Singleton 1.

Girls

H-K-T (43) -- Melinda Brimfield 19, Shelia Jamison 13, Smalls 6, Tyler 3, Milhouse 2

CC (41) -- Latoya Caldwell 18, Gibson 8, Davis 7, Ellis 4, Stewart 4

-- T&D Sports Writer Emery Glover can be reached by e-mail at eglover@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5532. Check out his blog, Cover 2, at www.thetandd.com. --

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