Laney basketball earns season defining win over Hoggard

5 days ago 2

Laney basketball is well aware of its perception.

The Bucs know they do not look intimidating. They know their roster does not feature a player taller than 6-foot-5. They know what the eye test says. They also do not care.

"It just shows the trajectory we're going," Laney coach BJ Donnell said after his team's 63-57 win over Hoggard on Jan. 8. "We don't have much size, but we've got grit and toughness and we gon guard you for 60 minutes."

That identity showed Thursday as Laney (10-5, 3-0) snapped a three-game losing streak to Hoggard in a game that looked destined to be a blowout win inside Sheila Boles Gym.

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After being swept by the Vikings in all three meetings last season, the Bucs wasted no time setting the tone. Laney jumped out early, holding Hoggard under 20 points for most of the first half and limiting the Vikings to 11 first-quarter points.

"Our defense really stands out," junior Emerey Brown said. "We had a game plan, we hopped on them early. We didn't really do that last year."

Brown led Laney with 17 points, but defense drove the result. Hoggard surged early in the second half, cutting the lead to seven and holding Laney scoreless for five minutes, before the Bucs responded with a run that pushed the margin to 22 by the end of the third quarter.

Hoggard (9-5, 1-1 CCC) didn't go without a fight. Junior Hunter McGrath scored a game-high 24 points as the Vikings outscored Laney 29-13 in the fourth, trimming the deficit to just a few possessions. The comeback, however, fell short.

The win gives Laney an early edge in conference play ahead of a Jan. 20 matchup with New Hanover that could shape the league race. More importantly, it shows that the Bucs aren't just full hype. The real deal has arrived.

"We don't pass the eye test, but we compete," Donnell said. "It's starting to become the norm that we come to whatever rivalry, and we just compete. We don't look at the name on the jersey, we just play the game."

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Laney boys basketball handles Hoggard in confidence boosting win

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