Jaguars win another dogfight

GASTONIA — Forestview might as well get used to this.

Four nights removed from an overtime thriller with Ashbrook, the Jaguars found themselves in another dog fight, this time with Hunter Huss.

Forestview once again escaped with a victory, holding off Hunter Huss 84-78 in a key Big South 3A Conference game Tuesday.

“I don’t think there’s going to be any easy games throughout the year,” Forestview coach Dan Ghent said.

The matchups sure haven’t been easy lately, but the Jaguars (10-5, 4-1) managed to move into a first-place tie with Ashbrook and South Point in the Big South 3A Conference. South Point came from behind to beat North Gaston on Tuesday while Ashbrook was idle.

Devante Mackins and Sean Spencer scored 17 each to lead five Forestview players in double figures. It wasn’t until the third quarter that the Jaguars started to take a bit of control in a game that was back-and-forth early and tied 40-all at the break.

A 7-0 run capped by Calvin Johnson’s fastbreak layup put Forestview ahead 60-51 late in the third, but Hunter Huss wound up cutting it to 63-62 early in the fourth on Kerrion Moore’s 3 from the left corner. Forestview never allowed Hunter Huss to take the lead again and soon had built another nine-point margin so it could at least avoid the kind of late drama it saw last week.

“We just made some shots,” Ghent said. “I think that was the big thing. Early on, some of our shots just weren’t going in. It was like there was a lid was on the basket in the first quarter. Toward the end we got some shots to fall.”

Dominique Adams, coming off a 34-point explosion against Ashbrook, scored 16. Johnson had 12 points, eight rebounds and four steals while Quan Nichols led the team with 10 rebounds.

Mackins was the early hero for the Jaguars, scoring 10 of his points in the first half.

“I thought Devante Mackins played a good solid game,” Ghent said. “He’s always solid on defense, and the first half he really carried us on the offensive end.”

Jaelan Kennedy scored 19 and Kerrion Moore 17 for Hunter Huss (6-9, 3-2), the defending conference and Big South champion who has yet to win back-to-back games this season.

“Even losing to them on their home court, we’ve improved a lot from the beginning, so you have to take it somewhat in context because a month ago we would have come over here and got beat by 30,” Wallace said.

The Huskies also got 12 points from Xavier Allen and 11 from Jordy Anderson. Hunter Huss faces another big matchup Friday at home against Ashbrook while Forestview visits Kings Mountain.

Advance Ashbrook-Huss tickets

Tickets for Friday’s Ashbrook-Hunter Huss game will be available in advance at both schools starting today. The tickets cost $5 each and can be purchased during regular school hours. Hunter Huss will host Friday’s matchup, which is the first of two this regular season.

Phillip Gardner: 704-869-1843; twitter.com/gazettephil