Hornets outlast Bay in OT

The Cottondale Hornets outlasted the Bay High Tornadoes Tuesday night on the last day of Marianna Summer League at Marianna High School.

The Hornets, who were playing without three starters and several regulars, took a 41-39 victory in overtime.

Marcus Humose scored 18 points, including 13 in the first half, to lead the Hornets.

However, it was a 3-pointer by Linford Canty with 48 seconds left in overtime that put the Hornets up for good.

Canty’s long-range jumper gave Cottondale a 39-36 edge in the two-minute overtime period, and Jacquise Walker’s layup with 22 seconds left put the Hornets up by five.

Bay stormed back quickly down the court and made a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two with 15 seconds on the clock.

The Tornadoes had to start fouling with 8.8 seconds to play, but could not commit enough fouls to put the Hornets on the free throw line before time expired.

The Hornets were scheduled to play Sneads in the late game, but the Pirates didn’t make it to the gym, and the game was cancelled.

Cottondale assistant coach Steve Harp led the Hornets in place of head coach Chris Obert, and said he was pleased with what he saw from his team.

“I think they played hard,” Harp said of his team. “We played a lot of young guys and they showed some toughness.

“We wanted to get them some experience and some good playing time, and I thought they did a good job overall. I was happy with it.”

The Hornets came out on fire, with a bucket by Jeremy Glover, a 3-point play by Humose and a pull-up jumper by Humose putting Cottondale up 7-0 to start the game.

A 6-2 run by Bay brought the Tornadoes back to within three, but another 3-pointer by Humose made it 12-6 Cottondale.

Bay fought back, however, getting a 3-pointer, a layup and a 3-point play to take its first lead of the game at 16-14 with 5:33 left in the first half.

Canty came up with a steal and layup to tie the game and Humose nailed another 3-pointer to give the Hornets a 19-16 halftime lead.

Humose continued his hot streak early in the second half with a bucket and a 3-pointer to make it 24-19 Cottondale.

Harp then gave his star point guard a rest and let the young Hornets try to finish it off.

A bucket by Walker and a 3-pointer by DJ Roulhac put Cottondale up 29-23 with 9:30 to play.

Bay responded with an 8-2 run to tie the game at 31-31 with 3:14 to play.

Cottondale’s Sheldon Vann had the answer for the Hornets with a 3-point play with 2:50 left in the game.

Bay scored to cut it to one with 2:20 on the clock and nailed a 3-pointer with 1:53 to play to tie the game at 36-36.

That would be the score at the end of regulation, with Bay failing to get off a shot on its last possession.

Harp brought Humose back on for the end of regulation and overtime to “give the young guys some leadership,” although it was the young Hornets who provided the big plays at the end.

Harp said it had been a productive summer session for the Hornets.

“I think a lot of our guys really grew as individuals and we grew as a team,” he said. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do if we want to be an all-around team. We’ve got the pieces to do that, but we just need to add a little more toughness.”