APACHE — Hydro-Eakly finished third in the Slick Hills tournament in Apache, going 2-1 in the three-day tournament.
Thursday, they played Geronimo 80-33. They lost Friday to tournament champion Hobart 75-66. Saturday, they defeated Walters 59-51. “We did not shoot the ball as well as
“We did not shoot the ball as well as we normally do,” coach Rick Gore said. “There were some really good teams, but we usually shoot the ball better. However, this is something we can work on.”
Hydro-Eakly 80, Geronimo 33
Hydro-Eakly started off slow, but managed to score 32 points in the first quarter. Nolan Gore scored 12 points. The defense played very solid as well and Hydro-Eakly was ahead 32-7 going into the second quarter.
Hydro-Eakly was ahead 51-18 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Bobcats allowed just two points and were ahead 65-20 going into the fourth quarter.
The bench played in the fourth quarter and Hydro-Eakly won the first game of the tournament 80-33.
“We were the top seed and they were the eight seed in the tournament,” Gore said. “Everyone got to play and it was good for our guys to get confidence.”
Nolan Gore scored 22 points, Paxton Price scored 18 points and Carson Propps scored 11 points.
Hobart 75, Hydro-Eakly 66
The first quarter was very competitive and Hobart was ahead at the end of the first quarter, 16-13 after a 3-point shot went in at the end of the quarter for Hobart.
Hobart built a double-digit lead in the second quarter outscoring Hydro-Eakly 9- 0 to end the quarter and take a 32-18 lead into halftime.
The Bobcats’ defense helped Hydro-Eakly close the 14-point gap, with plays like Price stepping up and taking a charge. However, Hobart was ahead 48-38 going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Nolan Gore hit three 3-pointers. However, Hydro-Eakly Hobart hit enough shots to win the game 75-66.
“We made some runs at them and have some heart,” Gore said. “We battled back, but dug ourselves too deep of a hole and could not overcome the deficit late in the first half.”
Hydro-Eakly 59, Walters 51
The first quarter was a defensive showdown, but Hydro-Eakly had the 11-6 advantage going into the second quarter.
The second quarter was close, but Hydro-Eakly made some plays and was ahead 26-20 at halftime.
Walters opened the third quarter outscoring Hydro-Eakly 7-2 and cut the lead to one possession. Hydro-Eakly responded and built a double-digit lead and was ahead 42-30 going into the fourth quarter.
Hydro-Eakly was ahead 52-41 with two minutes left in the game. Walters scored 10 points in the final minute of the game, but Hydro-Eakly was able to win the game 59-51.
Nolan Gore scored 22 points and Propps scored 17 points. Coach Gore said the bench really stepped up late in the game on offense.
“We got into foul trouble, which put us in a bind,” Gore said. “All our guys who were in the game were not used to playing in. This will help us get better and it was good for them to learn and grow in that stretch.”
Hydro-Eakly improves to 11-3.They will play at Geary 8 p.m. Friday.
“Now, we are getting ready for playoffs,” Gore said. “The playoff brackets come out soon and we should be in the top 3, hopefully the top seed. We just got to keep fine tuning our game and working on the little things.”