Patrick Gardner picks up first win as BB coach
LEBO — Hartford guard Heath Kraft made the most of his varsity debut. The sophomore guard hit two key 3-pointers and scored nine points.
The Jaguars in their season opener made six threes and held on for a tightly contested 43-42 victory over the White City Huskies Thursday at the Lebo High School Preseason Basketball Tournament.
“We did have some shooters tonight,” Hartford coach Patrick Gardner said. “Heath Kraft stepped up and hit well. Coming in like I told the boys that there’s no way that I would have dreamed he would have played 20 minutes for us tonight — there’s no way.
“He shot the ball in J.V. came out and got hot early for us and really got us back in the game and then kept us in the game and was able to fill some big shoes and play some solid defense. And I was very happy with his efforts tonight along with everybody else on the defensive end.”
The Jaguars and Huskies played back-and-forth basketball from the tip, but the Jaguars’ defense stiffened when it needed to most in the second half.
The game was tied at 27 at the half, but Hartford allowed just 15 points in the second half. After the Huskies rallied and tied the game at 40 with 2:50 to play, senior Colten Barrett dribbled from the top of the key right through the heart of the White City defense for a layup.
Barrett then recorded a steal on the next possession but the Jaguars didn’t score. Barrett then hit one of two free throws to push the lead to 43-40 with 30 seconds to play.
Then things got frantic at the finish.
White City’s Tanner Boeh scored on a layup to cut the lead to one at 43-42 with 9.8 seconds to play. Barrett was then fouled and missed the front end of the one-and-one, but White City turned the ball over on its final possession and Hartford (1-0) escaped with the win.
Barrett finished with seven points and fellow seniors Mike Wilson scored 12 points and hit three 3-pointers and Chris Schwinghamer scored two points and had two big rebounds in the late going.
For the complete story see the Gazette print edition or the online print edition at http://www.emporiagazette.com/pdf. To subscribe to the print edition or the online print edition go to http://www.emporiagazette.com/subscribe.