Vincent High School coach John Hadder likes to see his team use its athleticism to pressure the basketball and play the game at its own pace. In the second half of Friday night’s Class 2A, Area 9 game against third-ranked Shades Mountain Christian, that’s exactly what his team did.

Vincent used a smothering full-court press to open the second half, forcing 10 turnovers and turning a 32-27 halftime lead into a 46-27 lead three minutes into the third quarter. The No. 10 Yellow Jackets would go on to outscore the visiting Eagles 17-4 in the quarter to turn a tight game into a dominating 68-49 win.

“The first half we were able to pressure them a little bit, but we weren’t applying the pressure we had worked on all week in practice,” Hadder said. “We didn’t change anything that we do at the half. We just dedicated ourselves to do it harder and faster and we were able to do it.”

The 14-0 to start the third quarter saw all five starters score a fast-break basket caused by a turnover. Anterio Rogers was able to score four of those points in a matter of seconds as he hit a jumper, stole the inbounds pass and scored a basket. Juwan Rogers would hit a 3-pointer off another turnover by Shades Mountain Christian.

Vincent opened the game with a 10-4 run over the first few minutes compliments of a 3-pointer by Devanta Williams, two baskets from Juwan Rogers and three points from Anterio Rogers.

Shades Mountain Christian was able to cut the lead to five points by halftime, but from that point on, it was all Vincent. The smothering pressure took its toll on the visiting Eagles as they were called for a technical foul in the third quarter and an intentional foul in the fourth quarter out of frustration.

Vincent would have a balanced offensive attack with six different players scoring nine or more points. The Yellow Jackets were led by Keyon Wallace with 14 points and Ben McKinney with 12 points. Tevin Carter would come off the bench with 10 points, with eight of them coming in the second half.

The win avenges Vincent’s loss to Shades Mountain earlier this year and improves their record to 14-7 overall and 4-1 in Class 2A, Area 9.

GIRLS

Shades Mountain Christian 50, Vincent 28

Vincent would get a strong effort from sophomore guard Kiara Cohill, but it would not be enough to help the Lady Yellow Jackets defeat the Eagles. Cohill scored 17 second-half points on her way to a team-high 20 points. Vincent falls to 5-12 overall and 2-4 in Class 2A, Area 9 play.