Holcomb boys and girls take down Colby

Both the boys’ and girls’ Longhorn basketball teams rebounded from Thursday’s losses to Hugoton by thumping Colby Friday night. The Lady Longhorns grounded the Lady Eagles 49-37 and the Longhorn men crushed the Eagles 60-26.

In the girls’ game, both teams struggled to score early and the game was tied at 8 late in the opening quarter. Holcomb took its first lead with a minute left in the quarter on a Jordan Jarnigan 3-pointer off of an Eagle turnover and led 11-8 after one. The Eagles never regained the lead, going more than 8 minutes without scoring, from the 2:45 mark of the 1st quarter to the 2:15 mark of the second quarter, as Holcomb built a 26-8 lead. At halftime, Holcomb led 28-11 behind Jarnigan’s 12 points.

Early in the 3rd quarter, the Lady Longhorns jumped out to a 22-point lead, 35-13, but Colby’s Brenly Terrell began leading her team back with back-to-back treys. Terrell was held to just 4 points in the opening half, but she poured in 10 of her team’s 12 3rd quarter points, as Colby cut the Holcomb lead to 37-23. The Eagle comeback continued in the 4th quarter, as Colby got within 4, 39-35. Then Eboni Sapien got a putback and the Lady Longhorns got some breathing room, eventually stretching the lead back to 12 for the win.

Holcomb’s Jordan Jarnigan led all scorers with 23 points, going 9 of 10 from the line. Eboni Sapien was the only other Longhorn in double figures, with 10. Brenly Terrell led Colby with 20 points.

The Lady Longhorns improve to 6-9 on the season, 3-3 in league play, while the Lady Eagles are now 4-10, also 3-3 in the GWAC.

The boys’ game featured a pair of Longhorns chalking up double-doubles, as Connor Van Cleave tossed in 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while sophomore Kobe Dickson came off the bench to score 13 points and also snare 11 boards. Holcomb dominated the boards, 40-21. A night after shooting a dismal 31% in the loss to Hugoton, the Longhorns shot 43% from the field, despite hitting only 3 of 15 three-point attempts.

The Longhorns jumped out to a 19-6 lead after one quarter and held the Eagles to one second quarter basket, en route to a 33-8 halftime lead. Holcomb stretched the lead to 29, 47-18 heading into the fourth quarter. By the four-minute mark of the last quarter, the Longhorns had a 30-point lead, triggering a running clock, and Chad Novack was ready to clear his bench.

Holcomb is now 14-1 on the season and 5-1 in league play, while Colby is 1-13 and 1-5. The Longhorns moved back into a tie for first place in the GWAC, thanks to Scott City’s 59-51 win over Hugoton.

Both Holcomb teams travel to Lakin Tuesday for a doubleheader with the girls’ game tipping off at 6:30. The pregame show will begin at 6:15 on AM 1030 KBUF.