Ashley girls, Hoggard boys pickup key conference wins in doubleheader

WILMINGTON,NC (WWAY)–The Ashley girls and Hoggard boys basketball teams both used strong second halves on Tuesday night to pickup much needed wins in Mideastern Conference play.

In the girls game, Ashley held the slim six point lead at the half. The second half is when the Screamin’ Eagles began to take over. They outscored Hoggard 24-15 in the final two quarters to pull away for the 54-39 win.

Ashley standout Saniya Rivers finished with a game-high 32 points, while sophomore Lacy Lovitt led Hoggard with 14. Rivers say she felt her team was more prepared for Hoggard this time around.

“I think last time we played them we didn’t come out focused, but this time we came in with the winning mentality knowing that anything can happen,” Rivers says. “You know we just did what we had to do. We were knocking down shots, communicating on defense, and switching like we were supposed to and we got it done.”

The boys game between the Vikings and Eagles was a defensive slugfest from start to finish. Ashley lead 10-5 after the first quarter, but Hoggard picked up steam offensively in the second quarter to take the 23-16 lead into the half. The Vikings were able to build on that lead in the third and fourth quarters to pickup 42-33 win.

Hoku Fisher led the charge offensively for the Vikings in the win with 11 points, Ashley junior Mikhail Pocknett led the Eagles with 10.