By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

ASHVILLE – With a sweep against Ragland and tournament host Ashville the Vincent Yellow Jackets are off to a solid 2-0 start to the 2018-19 basketball season after bringing home the Coy Smith Memorial Tournament Championship.

The Jackets started the tournament off with a 60-48 win against Ragland before coming back a day later to take down Ashville 54-47 to claim the title. A big reason for that success was a combined 58 points from Chris Hardie and Jackson McGinnis between the two games.

Recaps from each of the Yellow Jackets’ two wins are below.

Vincent 54, Ashville 47 (Championship game) 

The biggest factor in Vincent’s championship game win over Ashville was the 10-14 mark at the free throw line in the final quarter.

After falling behind 39-31 at one point in the third quarter, the Yellow Jackets battled back to cut the deficit to three points with a 6-0 run to end the period.

That run was extended to 13-0 early in the final quarter, as Vincent stormed in front to take a 44-39 lead. Ashville trimmed the deficit down to as little as one point, but strong free throw shooting allowed the Jackets to pull away down the stretch.

After going a combined 3-8 from the line in the first three quarters combined, Vincent bounced back to 40-percent higher in the final period from the stripe to hang on for the 54-47 victory.

The Yellow Jackets outscored Ashville 18-8 in the period and ended the game on a 23-8 run after falling behind 39-31 in the third quarter.

Hardie had his second double-double performance in a row to start the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while also adding two steals and one assist. McGinnis posted 12 points and totaled six rebounds, two assists and one steal.

KJ Youngblood also had an important role at the guard position with four steals and eight points.

Vincent 60, Ragland 48

Vincent had three scorers and took advantage of a strong middle two quarters in the opening game of the tournament to pick up a 60-48 victory.

After a 10-10 first quarter between the two teams, Vincent went on a 14-5 run to start the second quarter, which gave them a 24-15 lead. The Jackets allowed one more basket before the half to hold a 24-17 advantage at the break.

Vincent continued its strong play on both ends of the floor in the third quarter, which led to its best offensive quarter of the game with 20 points.

The Yellow Jackets continued their strong run with a 20-11 quarter that extended their lead to 44-28 heading to the final period.

While Ragland outscored Vincent 20-16 in the fourth quarter, it barely put a dent in the Jackets’ built up lead, as they went on to win by the final of 60-48.

Vincent shot above 70 percent at the line in both games of the tournament going 17-24 in the first contest.

McGinnis led the way to start the tournament thanks to 14 points on 6-9 shooting, while also adding four rebounds, four blocks, two steals and two assists.

Hardie posted a double-double with 13 points and 17 rebounds, while also adding a game-high seven steals. Malik Hamilton scored 13 points and added five rebounds.