Howe 63, Honey Grove 55

By Jack Walker

Staff Writer

The Howe Bulldogs got some senior leadership down the stretch to break up a close game before beating Honey Grove 63-55 at the new Warrior gym Monday night.

The game was moved up due to the Honey Grove girls playoff game on Tuesday.

In its final game of the season Howe had a late offensive push by Matt Dowlen and Kenny Herbert, and the defensive play of Dalton Harris was huge in turning back an upset bid by Honey Grove.

Dowlen had six points in the game's final minutes to help douse a Warrior rally while Herbert collected eight points and five really big rebounds in the second half. Harris had three defensive plays on three consecutive Honey Grove possessions that denied the Warriors points. Harris' plays all led to Honey Grove turnovers at a crucial stretch of the ballgame.

Neither team was able to put any distance up on the scoreboard. Howe trailed by one at the end of the first quarter before using a 1-2-2 trapping defense to build up a 37-33 lead at the half.

A Dowlen three-pointer got the lead back for Howe early in the second period and a three-ball by Jordan Gray gave the Bulldogs their biggest lead at 26-21.

Darrious Brown keyed a run by Honey Grove and his basket midway through the period tied the game at 26 each.

A basket by Herbert as he was fouled, then his and-one free throw reclaimed the lead for Howe. Baskets by Bronco Wildman and Zach Wilks pushed the Howe lead to four at intermission.

The defensive work by Harris and a pair of buckets by Alex Torres kept Howe on top throughout the third period before two baskets by Brown tied the game 49-49 early in the final frame.

Another, old-school three point play by Herbert put Howe back on top and they never again trailed.

Dowlen scored on the inside after rebounding his own miss then stroked a jumper from 16 feet to build the Howe lead to six. A basket by Harris and two from the free-throw line by Dowlen finished off the Howe scoring as they come away with win number 18 on the year. Howe finishes the season 6-8 in league play.

Howe 15 22 10 16-63

HG 16 17 12 10-55

H: Matt Dowlen 19, Kenny Herbert 15, Alex Torres 10,Jordan Gray 5, Dalton Harris 4, Bronco Wildman 4, Clay Marable 3, Zach Wilks 3, Kegan Duncan 1.

Howe JV 55, Honey Grove 20

The Howe junior varsity game Honey Grove an old fashioned butt-kicking Monday night in the Grove, outscoring the Warriors 23-0 in the first quarter on its way to a 55-20 win.

Every Howe player that made the trip got in the score book, most in that first period as the Bulldog tested the scoreboard I the new gym.

Ryan Haines had nine of his game-high 17 points in the period and Travis Jones had six. Junior varsity teams play seven-minute quarters and Honey Grove didn't notch its first points until the 4:55 mark of the second quarter

Taking a 32-8 lead to the half, Howe got a pair of baskets by Jacob Grisolia midway through the third period before Haines pulled down a rebound on the defensive end and raced 94 feet to put in a shot as he was fouled. His added free throw pushed the lead to 30 and he and the other starters were done.

If you believe in karma, Colby Ake made one of the first Howe baskets. The last... by Zoe Weatherspoon.