Hoggard boys basketball remains unbeaten with home win over Coastal Christian

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Midway through the second quarter, the Hoggard boys basketball team was in need of a spark. Veteran coach Brett Queen knew exactly where to go.

Senior Devin Corbett came in off the bench and scored six straight points to ignite a 13-2 run that gave the Vikings a lead they would never relinquish during Tuesday’s 53-35 home victory over Coastal Christian.

“My team really needed me to bring some energy off the bench,” Corbett said. “They always tell me when I come in the game to bring the energy, because that’s what I do best.”

Hoggard (3-0) struggled a bit offensively for the opening quarter and a half, falling behind 16-12 after Marquise Dark buried a wide-open 3-pointer with 5:06 remaining in the second quarter.

Corbett banked home a 3-pointer to tie the game at 18-18 and Brady Rankin put the Vikings on top with a 3 of his own on the ensuing possession.

Rankin connected on four of Hoggard’s nine 3-pointers and led all scorers with 14 points. Corbett chipped in eight points, while Sabastian Haidera and Jacob Fisher each finished with seven. The Vikings also got six points a piece from Kris Gibbs and Luke Lamporte.

“I really felt like our defense kept us in it early until we got going offensively,” Hoggard coach Brett Queen said. “We had a great stretch there in the second quarter offensively where I felt like everything we called was working and we were making shots, but until that happened our defense kept us in it.”

The Vikings, who returned all five starters from last year’s team that won the Mideastern Conference regular season title, scored 19 points in the third quarter to extend the advantage to 14. It grew to 19 following a pair of free throws from Haidera with 6:46 remaining. 

“I made a conscious decision that I wasn’t going to try to do the same things again and hope that we got better just by being a year older,” Queen said. “I felt like we needed to do some things to take advantage of our personnel, so we’re running some different stuff offensively. I don’t think you can do that with a younger group.”

Coastal Christian (3-4) was led by senior forward Chazz Banks, who scored 11 points. Skyler Davies added eight and Dark chipped in seven.

The Centurions made four field goals in the opening quarter, but only had six more the rest of the game. Most of their damage came at the line, where they were 13 of 19.

Hoggard returns to action Friday at Reagan, while Coastal Christian hits the road to Ashley on Friday.