By JON WEBB
EDMONTON — Tim McMurtrey said his Hornets had been struggling over the past few games. Those struggles ended Thursday night.
Led by Russell Kindred’s 22 points and 10 rebounds, Metcalfe put up its highest point total of the year to rout Hart County 73-52 and to snap a five-game losing skid.
“We’d been on a losing streak, so we definitely needed one,” McMurtrey said.
Grant Kindred and Trevor Merideth did their part in delivering one. Grant Kindred put up 20 points and ripped down seven rebounds, while Meredith added 15 points and seven rebounds of his own.
The two kick-started the Hornet offense in the first quarter. Hart’s Anthony Skaggs struck first, but five points from Merideth and four from Grant Kindred helped Metcalfe grab an early 9-6 lead. The Hornets couldn’t pull away, however, as Hart came back to seize an 12-11 advantage with a little more than two minutes to go in the stanza.
The lead didn’t last long. Metcalfe closed the first with a 6-0 run to end the period with a 17-12 cushion.
A Grant Kindred three-point play at the onset of the second and scores from Merideth and Russell Kindred pushed the Hornet advantage to 25-14 with 5:49 remaining in the half. The lead remained in double digits for the majority of the period, but a quick 6-2 Raider run brought Hart within seven heading into the locker room.
And then Russell Kindred took over.
The 6’8” junior rattled off Metcalfe’s first six points of the half to balloon the lead to 13. Metcalfe’s offense kept adding air, outscoring Hart 25-11 in the third period en route to building a 56-35 advantage going into the final eight minutes.
Despite the acceleration in scoring, McMurtrey credited defense for the third-quarter run.
“I thought we played better defense in the second half,” he said. “And our size hurt them. They had to change their shots.”
Hart recovered in the fourth to outscore Metcalfe 18-17, but was ultimately unable to shovel out of the third quarter hole.
Grant and Russell Kindred and Merideth were the only Hornets to score in double figures. Dylan Harris, Tyler Jessie and Jesse Jones all pitched in four, while Justin Edwards and Ben Thompson each added two.
Cedric Vaughn led Hart with 20. According to McMurtrey, those points didn’t come easy.
“We made Vaughn earn his points tonight,” he said.
They made the Raiders earn each rebound as well. Metcalfe out-boarded Hart 41-35, grabbing 16 offensive rebounds in the process.
The win was the Hornets’ first since Jan. 5, when they defeated Cumberland County 63-46.
But Metcalfe will have plenty of opportunities to create a winning streak over the next week. The Hornets will travel to Butler County tomorrow, drive to Green County on Monday and finish the road trip at Barren County the following night before closing their regular season at home against Caverna.
All in all, Metcalfe will play four games in seven days. But McMurtrey isn’t worried the intense schedule will affect the Hornets before the start of the district tournament. Due to weather-related game cancellations and four-day cushion between the regular-season closer and district opener, McMurtrey said the Hornets should be well-rested before their first-round matchup.
