01-30-2006, 07:48 AM
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Everything we do is dictated by motive
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Join Date: Apr 2004
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12/30/06
Quote:
Big Red players share glory
Boys' basketball: Hughes 53, Taft 45
BY CAREY HOFFMAN | ENQUIRER CONTRIBUTOR
The poster held up from the stands by his cousins proclaimed "King Hayes."
Hughes junior guard Lonnie Hayes might be feeling like a king after the kind of weekend he enjoyed. But the real story behind the success he and his Big Red teammates are sharing is that several of them have the talent to ascend to the throne, but none of them feels the need to claim it all for his own.
Hughes, the No. 5 team in the Enquirer Division I coaches' poll, became only the second team to hang a loss on Taft, the No. 2 team in the Divisions II-IV coaches' poll, knocking off the Senators 53-45 Saturday night in a game played at Fifth Third Arena at UC.
Hayes, who had 29 points Friday night in a victory over Withrow, followed with 25 in Saturday's low-scoring affair.
"This was a big win for us," said Hayes. "We had lost two games in a row before we came back this week with wins over Woodward, Withrow and now Taft. We're playing together, and we got back to that and playing defense now."
Hayes was scoring about 19 points a game coming into the weekend, third on a team that features Division I prospects in senior guard Adrion Graves (a Xavier signee) and 6-foot-8 sophomore center Yancey Gates.
"Everyone talks about Adrion Graves, but the thing is he doesn't take bad shots," Taft coach Mark Mitchell said.
"They're a team that's happy letting role players get things done, and then they have Lonnie Hayes, and I'll tell you that he's going to make some (college) recruiter look really good."
Taft was up 20-14 in the second quarter before Hayes scored 11 straight points for his team to stake Hughes to a 27-24 halftime lead. At the same time he was excelling, Taft went into a slump.
"Our shot selection is terrible," Mitchell said. "Right before half, we were on a run, and then we go 12 possessions where we only score four points and turn the ball over three times."
Some of that would be attributable to Hughes. With the 6-8 Gates, 6-4 Graves and lanky 6-6 junior forward Chris Taylor around the basket, good looks were hard to come by.
"We're really been focusing as a team on becoming a better defensive team," Hughes coach Greg Mills said.
"Tonight, with our man-to-man defense, we wanted to be sure to help and recover and keep (Taft) out of the paint."
Taft senior guard Heath White was the only Senator in double figures, finishing with 19. Graves added 12 for Hughes, which at 14-3 is believed to be sporting its best record since the late 1980s.
"This was a big win," Mills said. "There's a big rivalry with Taft, and the last couple of years they've beaten us, so this was important for our
confidence."
Taft (13-2) - Gray 2 0 5, McKinney 1 0 2, Torbert 3 0 6, Bradshaw 2 2 6, Russ 3 1 7, White 8 3 19. Totals: 19 6 45.
Hughes (14-3) - Robinson 1 0 3, Gates 2 1 5, Jarmon 1 0 2, A. Graves 5 1 12, M. Graves 1 0 2, Hayes 9 4 25. Totals: 21 6 53.
Taft1410138-45Hughes1215719-53
3-point goals: T - Gray; H - Robinson, A. Graves, Hayes 3.
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