Mt. Hermon School’s season ended in the quarterfinal round of the Class B state playoffs, after the Yellow Jackets suffered a 61-41 loss to second-seeded Hathaway on the road Friday.
“Hathaway is talented,” Mt. Hermon coach B. Alford said. “We didn’t hit outside shots and that’s been our bread and butter, especially the second half of the year. This team has got to the line more and put more pressure on other teams and outside shooting is not going to do that.”
Alford said the Yellow Jackets made eight 3-pointers in Friday’s game and said his team had been averaging 15 3-pointers per game in the second half of the season.
Mt. Hermon trailed 12-6 after the first quarter and 28-13 at halftime. The Yellow Jackets trimmed the deficit to 11 and had a chance to get it to eight. Alford said they had a good look for a 3-pointer, but missed the shot. Hathaway then hit a shot, got fouled, but missed the free throw. Hathaway grabbed the offensive rebound and made a 3-pointer for a 16-point lead.
Ike Tate posted 10 points for Mt. Hermon to lead the Yellow Jackets in scoring.
Four players posted eight points, including Gerald Bunch, Jordan Smith, George Smith and Device Taylor. Dwayne Elzey added one point for Mt. Hermon.
Alford said the team had tremendous support.
“On behalf of the team, we want to thank our school, students and community,” Alford said. “It was a big thrill to see all of the support they had for the team. It meant a lot to the players and me personally.”
During the playoff run, No. 23 Mt. Hermon defeated pair of top-10 teams in No. 10 Pitkin, 42-40, and seventh-seeded Negreet, 74-70.
Mt. Hermon had two seniors in Bunch and Elzey.
The Yellow Jackets finished the 2016-17 season with a 13-12 record.
Hathaway advanced to the semifinals and defeated sixth-seeded Simboro, 58-46. Hathaway will play top-seeded Zwolle in the state championship game Friday at Burton Coliseum in Lake Charles.