Marcus Kinman, a senior for the Hornets, had 16 points against the Bridgeport Mustangs, including four three-pointers. Photos by Gary DeVon

OROVILLE – The Oroville Hornets had an up and down week, defeating Liberty Bell on the road only to lose to Soap Lake in an “ugly” game at home.

On Tuesday, Jan. 27 the Hornets beat Liberty Bell on the Lion’s home court by a score of 45 to 35. The game started off close, with the Lions only trailing by one after the end of the first quarter. At the half-time buzzer Liberty Bell had hung close and went to the locker rooms down 19 to 21.

Then in the third, Oroville started to pull away shooting two-to-one against Liberty Bell and the Hornet lead increased to 33 to 25. Liberty Bell adjusted, but was unable to match Oroville’s shooting and the game ended with the Lions trailing by 10.

“We overcame horrible shooting by playing good defense and hitting key threes in the third. We shot eight for 18 from the line which hurt,” said Coach Carl Iverson. “Marcus hit three threes in the third, five for the game, and Cody had a nice inside game.”

Marcus Kinman had the high score with 19 points, followed by Cody Mills with 12, Adam Peterson, five; Chris Wolley and Brandon Funston, four each and Luke Rowton, one.

“We missed Preston’s intensity because of him being sick. I have told the players that if we play good defense we have a chance to win every game,” Iverson said.

On Friday, Jan. 30, the Hornet’s perfect league record came to an end when Soap Lake edged them out with a 54 to 52 point win.

“This was an ugly game marred by horrible officiating, rough play, foul trouble and poor shooting. We shot 12 for 24 from the line which killed us,” said Coach Iverson. “It was an emotional game and we got caught up in the emotions a little too much. That being said, we still had our chances down the stretch, but had to many turnovers and could not hit a key shot”

Kinman again led his team with 14 points, followed by Mills and Rowton with 11 apiece, Peterson and Preston Iverson with five each, Funston with four and Wolley with two.

“We will learn from this and we will be better because of this defeat. Cody played a pretty good game, even though only playing about 12 minutes. Losing Cody to foul trouble really hurt us. We need to rebound better as a team when he is on the bench,” Iverson said..

The Hornets are 11 and four for the season and eight and one in the NC2B League.

“We play Waterville at home next and travel to Entiat for a huge game Friday. The winner of the Oroville-Entiat game has the inside track to the league title,” said the coach.

The Oroville Hornets continued on their winning streak with wins against Bridgeport and Kittitas the week prior, bringing their league record to 7-0.

The Hornets began the week with an exciting game against the Bridgeport Mustangs on Tuesday, Jan. 20. After starting out a little slow in the first quarter and down by three, the Hornets fought to a 29 to 29 tie at the half-time buzzer.

The two teams seemed pretty evenly matched in the third quarter with the Mustangs making 18 points to the Hornets’ 17. Trailing by one to start the final quarter Oroville put an end to the debate with five three-point shots, finishing on top 75 to 63.

“We hit five threes in the fourth to secure the win,” said Hornet Coach Carl Iverson. “Bridgeport played us real tough and are a real scrappy team. We controlled the inside game with Cody Mills and Adam Peterson playing well.”

Marcus Kinman led the Hornets with 16 points for the night, including four three-pointers. Preston Iverson matched Kinman’s 16 and was followed by Luke Rowton, 14; Cody Mills, 12; Brandon Funston, eight; Chris Wolley, five and Adam Peterson, four.

“Preston started in place of Luke, who was playing his first game back from a dislocated shoulder and hit for 16 points,” said Coach Iverson.

Oroville then matched up against the Kittitas Coyotes on Saturday, Jan. 24 and came out the victors 68 to 49.

The Hornets jumped to a 10-point lead in the first quarter and finished the half eight points up. In the third Oroville broadened their lead to 11 going into the final quarter. The Hornets out-shot the Mustangs nearly two to one in the fourth quarter to win the game.

“We totally controlled the inside game with Cody and Adam having great games. We got a little sloppy in the second quarter and let them back in the game a bit, but got back to our game and pulled away in the second half,” said Coach Iverson.

Mills pulled down the top score with 15 points, followed by Funston and Kinman with 12 each. Peterson had 10, Rowton, nine; Wolley, four; Preston Iverson, David Peters and Randy Wise, two each.

“Kittitas is a very physical team and that frustrated us at times. When we go inside, we are a tough team. When we stop going inside, we can get a bit sloppy which hurts our game plan,” said the coach.