By KALA BOLTON / Staff Writer

Although Thompson boys’ basketball head coach Patrick Davis didn’t see the production he would have liked on offense from his team in its Nov. 18 win over Chelsea, a strong defensive performance held things down for the Warriors.

“I think we’re committed to understanding that when it’s not going well offensively, as long as you can keep getting stops, you win basketball games,” Davis said. “We’ve got to do a lot better offensively, but as long as we’re getting stops, we’ve always got a chance to win it.”

The visiting Warriors (3-0) handed Chelsea (0-2) its second loss in a row, but the Hornets aren’t getting discouraged just yet.

“There’s a lot of good things that we’re doing, and there’s a lot of not-very-good things that we’re doing,” Hornets head coach Michael Napp said. “We’re very early in our journey, and we purposely scheduled some tough competition. I wanted to challenge our guys, push them in a different level, because we have some pretty high goals in our area in terms of what we want to do, and this is helping us get ready for that.”

After rallying in the early minutes of play, senior Quentin Wilson hit a 3-pointer to give Chelsea a 9-8 lead closing out the first quarter, but the home crowd was quickly silenced as Thompson seniors Kenny Nabors and Demarcus Threatt and sophomore Jaalen Jones each found the basket within the first 26 seconds of the second quarter to regain the lead for the Warriors. Thompson extended their lead, finishing the first half strong after an 8-0 run thanks to buckets from Nabors, sophomore Chris Thomas and senior Jaylon Jones.

The Hornets came out of the locker room firing as a jumper and free throw from senior Jake Ganus brought the Hornets within one of the leading Warriors, but Threatt sealed a jumper and 3-point shot during the final minute of the third quarter to regain a dominant 38-27 lead going into the final stretch.

“Play hard, and keep winning,” Threatt said of the Warriors’ mentality. “Everybody’s coming after us because we had a fantastic summer, and we worked hard.”

Though the Hornet’s fought till the end, the deficit was wide enough for the Warriors to maintain the lead and run out the clock with a 56-37 win.

“Anytime you can get a win on the road, it’s good,” Davis said.

Threatt led Thompson with 18 points on the night, sophomore De’Andre Gamble added 13, and Nabors and Jaalen Jones added six points each.

Ganus totaled 16 points for the Hornets while senior Quentin Wilson and junior Julius McCall added five points each.

“Even though we’re having to take some losses right now, I really do think this is preparing us for our area, and I’m excited about our effort, excited about our talent,” Napp said. “I think we’re a few weeks away from being a pretty good team.”