Braves down Warriors heading into region slate

(Franklin, GA) — A huge second half effort propelled the HCHS boy’s basketball team to a 59-39 win over Oak Mountain in Franklin Friday night.

The Braves led by just a single point 17-16 at the half before jumping out to a seven point lead after the third quarter.

Senior Ayden Cannon

Junior Isaiah O’Neal and senior Ayden Cannon each had big nights to once again lead the way for a Braves team that will begin Region 5-AA play at home this Friday night versus Bremen.

O’Neal scored a game high 20 and Cannon tallied 19.

Head coach Derek Smith believes both O’Neal and Cannon are making early cases for Region Player of the Year consideration.

Evan Walls, Jameer Cook, and D.J. Herring each had four points in the non-region victory while Gavin Moncus and Ethan Lawson each scored three.

“I think what we’ve got to get better at is playing a full game and not looking at teams and thinking ‘oh we are more athletic and we don’t have to play as hard’ or ‘oh they are more athletic and we can’t compete.’ It’s got to be just going out every game and playing as hard as you can and seeing what happens,” said Smith after Friday’s game.

“But it was a good second half tonight — we blew out a team that we are just better than.”

Smith likes his squad’s chances heading into region play especially with his team inching towards finally being at full strength for the first time this season.

“I feel pretty confident about our chances in region,” Smith says. “We are still missing two guys in senior Ashton Bonner and freshman Jonathan Echols that really haven’t played all year so hopefully having those two guys back soon will be helpful for us and I think getting those guys back makes us a different team.”

The Braves (5-6) fell 56-47 on the road Saturday at Holy Innocents in Atlanta to close out the non-region slate. Cannon led the scoring with 15 points and Kahlil Cofield tallied 13.

Friday’s Region 5-AA home opener versus Bremen will tip at 7:30 PM or immediately after the Lady Braves game which starts at 6:00 PM.

The Braves will face home and home matchups versus Bremen, Haralson County, Temple, and Callaway to determine seedings for the Region 5-AA Tournament. Class AA State playoff seedings will be determined in the region tourney.

For more information and updates, visit Heard County Boys Basketball on Facebook.