Red Bank Powers Past Hixson, 99-24

When Red Bank forward Kalen Sewell used brute strength to wrench an offensive rebound away from a Hixson big man and then employ some finesse and soft touch to finish the short floater, the scoreboard read 15-0 in favor of the Lions, and just a few minutes into the game, it already seemed that this one might get ugly. That goose egg sat on the Hixson side of the scoreboard until the five-minute mark of the first half when they found their first bucket of the game on a transition layup.

If Hixson ever had a chance tonight to catch the runaway train that was the Red Bank offense, that was their best one. In the blink of an eye, the scoreboard read 40-2 just a few minutes into the second quarter and the already hefty gap only grew more gargantuan from there with the result being a final score of 99-24.

“It’s fun to watch isn’t it,” said Lions head coach Nick Fike. It’s a unique brand of basketball and they’ve bought into that style so we’re going to ride with it,” said Fike.

The most jarring thing about Red Bank’s success was the way that they used pace to their advantage. The moment a Hixson shot clanged off the rim, the race was on, and down the court came the five Red Bank Lions, guards dashing through open space and weaving through traffic, followed by long-limbed forwards galloping alongside them ready to collect a pass and finish at the rim.

Two of those long athletic wings were Anthony Bonner and Kaden Sewell who had 19 and 20 points respectively, 20 being the game-high. Bonner did more of his work from the mid-range, using his smooth shooting stroke to knock down open looks, but also using his length to attack the rim in transition when the opportunity was there. Fierce slashing to the basket and physical domination on the offensive boards was the name of the game for Sewell. His athleticism combined with his skill made him impossible to jump with, and problematic to deter once he decided to look for his shot.

The offense wasn’t the only contributor to this shellacking. Anxiety and panic, and panic turned to frustration in the Wildcat backcourt on multiple occasions tonight due to the smothering full-court press from Red Bank. There were stretches of the game where it was hard to remember the last time the ball had advanced across the timeline for the Wildcats, as Red Bank continued to force turnovers and capitalize with transition buckets.

Even after a resounding win, Coach Fike still sees areas for defensive improvement, saying, “As crazy as this sounds, I think defensively we’ve still got some deficiencies as far as being in gaps when we need to and being in help-side when we need to. I’m a big defensive guy so those are things that I definitely see.”

Red Bank got scoring contributions from 12 guys on their roster tonight. No matter which seat on the bench a reserve started this game sitting in, when it came time for them and that seat to part ways, each one was sure to bring their game onto the court with them, especially senior Javonta Johnson who had eight, and sophomore Draden Collier who added six of his own and was seemingly around the basketball all night.

“Last year we lost six seniors off of a really good basketball team,” said Fike. “So now that we’ve gotten some guys moved up in practice, we’ve slowly started realizing that we can play 11,12 guys,” said Fike.

After starting the season with five consecutive losses, this commanding victory has the Lions on a three-game winning streak, while Hixson drops to 0-7 on the season.

Red Bank Girls 42, Hixson 18: Not unlike the boys’ game, Red Bank’s Lady Lions caused havoc in the Hixson backcourt all night, forcing turnovers routinely en route to a 24-point home win.

Exquisite performances from Red Bank’s Malika Odum and Journey Holloway provided more offense than Hixson could keep up with, as the two of them combined for 36 of the team’s 42 total points.

Though the Lady Wildcats struggled to take care of the ball, Hixson wasn’t necessarily out of this one as the game coursed through the early second half. Eventually, however, Holloway and Odum were too much and Red Bank ended the game on a 17-7 run which ultimately downed the Lady Wildcats amid their hope for a late-game surge.

Girls Summary

RED BANK 12 11 17 2 -- 42

HIXSON 7 2 2 7 -- 18

RED BANK (42) – Malika Odum 22, Journey Holloway 14, Ervin 2, Guye 4.

HIXSON (18) – Bellamy 8, Collier 2, Kaylor 4, Lee 2, Brown 2.

3-Point goals: Red Bank 3 (Odum 2, Holloway); Hixson none.

Boys Summary

RED BANK 34 21 27 17 -- 99

HIXSON 2 10 10 2 -- 24

RED BANK (99) – Kalen Sewell 20, Anthony Bonner 19, Kendrick Lloyd 15, Jaylen Rice 10, Johnson 8, Crutcher 6, Wilbur 3, Collier 6, Johnson 4, Owens 2, Sevier 2.

HIXSON (24) – Roderick Bradley 14, Kendricks 2, Kamper 4, Fleming 2, Durham 2.

3-point goals: Red Bank 8 (Bonner 3, Johnson, Rice, Kendrick, Wilbur, Johnson); Hixson none.

Records: Red Bank 3-5 Overall; Hixson 0-7 Overall