Heidelberg was on fire during the Bay Springs Christmas Classic Tournament this weekend. After handily defeating Newton, 57-32, Friday night, head coach Billy Wright's Oilers continued in dominating fashion Saturday evening with a 77-53 victory over tourney host Bay Springs.
Heidelberg was better off the glass, better shooting from the floor, better running the floor, and was clearly more physical than its cross county rival, which for the second time this season they knocked off.
Winning over the Bulldogs on their court is something that Wright says is 'big' for his team.
“We haven't gotten a win over here [Bay Springs] in about two years. It feels good,” he explained. “We had the young group for a while, and now Bay Springs has a young group. It's time for us to be a little more aggressive. [Dorian] Parker is a junior now, and [Randarius] Hughes is a senior, and those guys are playing better. All the guys are playing better. We are going to continue to work hard and fine-tune some things to make that next step to the next level.”
Bay Springs' Chad Jones buried a deep three right after the tip, but it was all Heidelberg after that. The Oilers stretched the lead to 7-3 midway through the first period. They extended that lead to 36-21 by halftime.
Quandarius Bender paced the Oilers all night long and finished with a game-high 31 points, including knocking down five baskets from beyond the arc. Parker cashed in 17 points, and Hughes finished the game with 12 points.
Back-to-back threes byBay Springs' Jones and Anthony Wheaton late during the third period closed the gap to 10 points, 46-36, but Bender answered with a three of his own to stretch the lead back out for the Oilers. In the fourth, Heidelberg controlled the boards on both ends of the court, ran the floor well, and converted baskets to earn the 24-point win.
Wright expects his team to keep working hard as they hit the second half of the season and get into Region 5-2A play.
“We are going to continue to work hard. We know we will have to deal with Bay Springs, as well as Taylorsville [in the region]. This [tonight] was a great rivalry game, and this is probably one of the best tournaments you can go to during Christmas time with the family environment and everybody knows one another,” he said. “But, after this, we have to start focusing more on those district games and a championship.”
The Oilers are now 9-4 on the season.
Wheaton led Bay Springs with 23 points. Jones finished with 15, and Cartize Booth scored 13.
