Horton’s 36 leads J’ville
- Updated: December 4, 2014
FINAL: Player’s third 30-point game of season lifts Golden Eagles over Weaver
Cam Horton gets some instruction from Jacksonville coach Ryan Chambless during a second-half timeout in Thursday night’s win over Weaver.
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE — Midway through the first quarter Thursday night the odds looked slim that Jacksonville’s Cam Horton would even score in double figures much less hit his season average. The number he eventually did produce wasn’t even on the radar.
Apparently, you can’t keep a good scorer down for long.
Horton overcame two fouls in the first four minutes that brought him back to the bench for the rest of the quarter to score a season-high 36 points and lead Jacksonville over Weaver 82-68.
The junior guard was 13 of 20 from the field and for much of the third quarter had more than half his team’s points. He got back on track with 18 in the second quarter – matching Weaver’s team output — to help the Golden Eagles open a 41-36 halftime lead.
He also had three steals, three assists and five rebounds — and picked up only one more foul the rest of the game. His two-hand slam late in the third quarter gave him 30 for the third time this season and at the time exactly half of the Golden Eagles’ points. He scored 30 in each of Jacksonville’s first two games this season.
“When I see that I’m doing bad when I start off, all I need is a layup or a good steal or a good pass and it gets me going,” Horton said. “It gets me ready to play, gets my momentum up, and confident. That’s all I needed, a steal or something to get myself going.
“I didn’t start off too well, but once I got that steal and finished, I was like, man, it’s on.”
He singled-handedly put the Golden Eagles ahead at the half. With the score tied at 27 midway through the second quarter, he personally outscored the Bearcats 12-4 and then hit a jumper right before the halftime horn.
Horton wasn’t the only Golden Eagle in early foul trouble; virtually their entire starting lineup felt the wrath of the whistle. Sid Thurmond, Savon Parker and Rivan Hill all also had two fouls before the four-minute mark of the first quarter. Before it was over, Thurmond, the team’s other ball handler and scoring threat, and Hill had three.
The foul trouble created opportunities for the supporting cast and both Horton and coach Ryan Chambless praised the reserves for keeping the Golden Eagles in the game.
K.J. Satcher, Zack Casey, Ben Jaskowski and Casey Trull all played big roles in keeping the offense Chambless worked in earnest only Wednesday moving. They combined for 14 points. Trull had four rebounds and two blocks. Jaskowski had five rebounds. Satcher had six points and two rebounds. Casey had four points.
“That’s really the first time we’ve been in that bad foul trouble,” Chambless said. “I really didn’t know what we’d do, how we’d respond, and we responded pretty good. I was proud of that, I’ll tell you that.”
“Those boys stepped up tonight,” Horton said. “They actually picked up the slack for me because I was looking around like, ‘I don’t have Sid, what am I going to do?’’ They rallied around me. They said, ‘Cam, I know you’re tired, but I’ve got your back.’ That’s a team right there.”
Weaver coach Daryl Hamby knew the Bearcats couldn’t keep Horton down forever, but lamented they couldn’t contain the players around him.
“I don’t know if you’re really going to be able to stop him; you’ve got limit everybody else from scoring,” Hamby said. “A good player like that, he’s usually going to get his number, so you try to make him work, bend his legs up the court.
“We’ve just got to do a better job of understanding the process of a team defense. That’s what we didn’t do well. We broke it down and one guy would help, but nobody would help the guy who helps.”
The Bearcats don’t have a lot of time to learn it. They travel to White Plains tonight.
Delo Forbes led Weaver with 23 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals; he had 18 in the first half. Craig Copeland and Jalen Heath had 15 each. They were a combined 19 of 26 from the field, 7 for 19 from 3-point range.
Jacksonville 82, Weaver 68
JACKSONVILLE – Cam Horton 13-20 7-8 36, Sid Thurmond 5-10 3-5 13, Tae Ackles 4-8 1-2 11, Kenneth Satcher 2-2 2-4 6, Savon Parker 2-4 1-2 5, Zack Casey 2-4 0-0 4, Rivan Hill 1-2 1-2 3, Ben Jaskowski 1-3 0-3 3, Casey Trull 1-3 0-2 3, Aaron Bragg 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 31-58 15-28 82.
WEAVER (2-2) – Delo Forbes 7-13 6-10 23, Craig Copeland 6-12 1-3 15, Jalen Heath 6-11 1-4 15, Elliot Moore 2-3 3-8 7, Cody Cochran 1-2 1-2 4, Marcus Sanders 1-4 0-2 2, Ducky Morris 1-2 0-0 2, Cameron Lynch 0-3 0-0 0, Paul Hubbard 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 12-29 68.
Weaver 18 18 14 18 — 68
Jacksonville 19 22 21 20 — 82
3-point goals: Weaver 8-21 (Forbes 3-8, Copeland 2-5, Heath 2-6, Cochran 1-2); Jacksonville 5-11 (Horton 3-5, Ackles 2-4, Case 0-1, Bragg 0-1). Rebounds: Weaver 35 (Forbes 7, Moore 6); Jacksonville 36 (Parker 6, Horton 5, Jaskowski 5). Total fouls: Weaver 24, Jacksonville 25. Technical fouls: Hubbard.
Fouled out: Moore, Trull.
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