Staff reports

It’s called the Hardin-Jefferson Basketball Marathon, but Nederland has finished the race first four of the last five seasons now.

Hayden Hefner continued his dominating play with a double-double and earned a second straight MVP honor in the three-day tournament following the Bulldogs’ 48-38 win over Spring Hill on Saturday night. Hefner, who also was MVP at last week’s Nederland Bulldog/YMBL Classic, had 27 points and 10 rebounds while making five assists.

Nederland (13-3) avenged a 60-42 loss to Spring Hill in Thursday’s pool play. Hefner had 30 points in that game.

The junior scored 27 or more points in five of Nederland’s six games at H-J. He is averaging about 26.7 points per game.

But to beat 4A Spring Hill, based in the Longview area, the 5A Bulldogs counted on defense.

“I think everything we do is based on defense and how successful we are at it,” Nederland coach Brian English said. “Spring Hill can really shoot the ball well. We held them to under 40 points. Our kids did a great job with that.”

Tyler Jackson and Joseph Gipson each had eight points and made the all-tournament team.

 

Nederland 61, H-J 46

Earlier Saturday, Hefner went for his second 30-point game in the Marathon, nearly scoring half of the Bulldogs’ total.

J.B. Rahe and Jackson each scored 10 and Gipson had eight.

Nederland will host West Brook on Tuesday in a rematch of last Saturday’s Bulldog/YMBL Classic final.

 

Cy Springs 53, Memorial 52

The Titans settled for third place in the Cypress Hoops Invitational after losing Saturday’s semifinal to Cypress Springs.

Nate Clover led Memorial with (9-5) with 16 points and seven rebounds. Kenneth Lofton Jr. had 10 points and seven boards, and Jaden Conner scored 11 in the loss.

The Titans will play at West Orange-Stark on Tuesday. They were 8-5 last season before winning 26 straight games, en route to the 5A state title.

 

Aransas Pass 75, PNG 41

At the Hardin-Jefferson Marathon, Port Neches-Groves (7-7) struggled to recover from being outscored 22-7 and suffered its fourth straight defeat by a 36-point margin.

Drake Rojas led PNG with 14 points. Sam Chapman had 23 to lead Aransas Pass.

 

Huffman 72, PNG 54

Earlier Saturday, Jacob Harvey led the Falcons’ charge with 31 points in an 18-point decision over the Indians.

Trent Lee and Noah Marchak each had 11 for PNG, which trailed 16-10 through one period and 35-23 at the half. Gage Hulse added 13 points for Huffman.

PNG will visit Hamshire-Fannett at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

 

GIRLS

Sabine Pass 50, Bob Hope 27

At the High Island tournament, Nevaeh Jones and Jamesia Jones each scored 12 points, leading the Sharks (4-4) to a win over their Port Arthur rivals.

Sabine Pass got off to a good start after leading 20-8 through one period but was held to two points in the second, leading 22-16.

Yainn Zuniga added nine points for Sabine Pass. Esmeralda Cruz led Bob Hope with 10 points.

 

Sabine Pass 37, West Hardin 32

Earlier Saturday in High Island, Nevaeh Jones shot 7 for 12 from the floor and finished with 14 points as the Sharks pulled out a win over the Oilers.

Trailing 6-2 in the first quarter, the Sharks outscored the Oilers 17-8 before halftime.

Sabine Pass will host Good Samaritan at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.