Second half surge pushes Stanhope boys past Elmore County

The Stanhope Elmore boys basketball team came out of the locker room at halftime on a mission.

Stanhope, which led by only six points at the half, used a huge second-half surge to beat county rival Elmore County, 76-55, in a non-region showdown on Thursday night.

Stanhope led at halftime, 32-26, but outscored Elmore County 27-11 in the third quarter. The Mustangs started the quarter on a 14-3 run over the first four minutes of the quarter.

“I thought our guys played well in the first half, but we came out out more on the same page in the second half,” Stanhope coach David Cochran said. “It wasn’t clean and we still have some work to do, but I’m proud of our guys. They responded well. We definitely woke up and played to our standard in the second half.”

Up by six to start the third quarter, Stanhope’s Nick Morgan hit a 3-pointer on the Mustangs’ first possesion, his second trey of the game, to start Stanhope’s run. Patrick Williams then quickly scored on a steal and layup, and the Mustangs led 46-29 just three minutes later.

Stanhope went on a 14-3 run over the first four minutes of the quarter, with Williams scoring six of the 14 points. During the stretch, Stanhope forced Elmore County to turn the ball over more than four times, resulting in easy layups for Williams and Derrick Cook and a 3-pointer by Cooper Wise.

“We got a little stagnant at the end of the first half and then the start of the second half, we really take pride in that and got a little bit of a stretch right there,” Cochran said. “It all started on the defensive end. We got some stops and some turnovers there and it turned into some easy buckets.”

After pushing its lead out to 46-29, Stanhope was able to take a 22-point lead into the fourth quarter. Morgan hit another 3-pointer and had a put back layup, while Dylon Williams controlled the inside with a layup and a put back of his own.

Williams finished the game with a double-double, scoring 13 points and 10 rebounds. Morgan finished the game with a team-high 19 points and Williams scored 16 while seven other Mustangs scored in the game.

“We take pride in moving the basketball,” Cochran said. “We have everybody on our team that can handle it. Any given night, it can be any person on the team. That’s why I love this team. This team is special. They want and they’re very unselfish. They’ll make the extra pass and they’ll do the little things that we ask.”

On the defensive side of things, Stanhope had the challenge of defending Elmore County sharpshooter Payton Stephenson. The Mustangs were able to hold Stephenson in check for most of the game, but Stephenson still finished with a game-high 22 points and hit four 3-pointers.

Stephenson was held scoreless in the first quarter of the game, mostly due to being called for two fouls in the first three minutes. He scored nine points in the second quarter to help cut the lead to six, but was held to only four points in the third as Stanhope built their lead.

With Stanhope leading by 22 late in the game, Stephenson was able to hit two deep 3-pointers and three free throws to cut the lead to 16 points, but Stanhope’s offense never let the lead get any closer.

“Stephenson is a very athletic point guard and he gives anybody problems,” Cochran said. “He gives anybody problems. I told my guys that he was going to make shots. That’s part of the game. Just make it as hard as possible and make him earn it. He hit some really tough shots. I just wanted to make it hard for him all night.”

GIRLS: Stanhope Elmore 57, Elmore County 33: The Stanhope Elmore girls basketball team quickly jumped out to a big lead on Thursday night and never looked back. The Lady Mustangs led 16-2 midway through the first quarter and took a commanding 20-6 lead after the first period.

Senior guard Kelbi Johnson scored 10 points in the first quarter to help pace the team, and she finished the game with a game-high 24 points. Her scoring along with Stanhope’s inside presence of Jacey Haynes and Summer Hicks were too much for Elmore County to handle.

“We played really well inside,” Stanhope coach Kelvin Stokes said. “We have to score more in transition with some of our bigs, but at the end of the day they altered shots and made it difficult. Once you block two or three, now they have the mindset of if they go inside, we are going to block it. We took them out of the game with blocks. I just think our inside presence was strong tonight.”