Hornets shut down Rocket offense

Malvern held Conotton Valley to single digits in each quarter and cruised to a 75-20 Inter Valley Conference win Dec. 19 in the Rocket Center.

The visitors took a 16-6 lead in the first quarter and stretched the margin to 43-10 at intermission. The Hornets outscored the hosts 20-4 and 12-6 over the final two periods. 

J’Allen Barrino’s 19 points led a list of nine Hornets to put points on the scoreboard. Mitch Minor contributed 15, Dylan Phillips 13 and Rodney Smith 12. Also scoring were Eric Swain five, Owen Ball and Jared Witherow, both four and Tripp Tucci two. Drake Hutchison sank a foul shot. Minor connected on three 3-point shots while Phillips and Swain each sank one.

Brooks Bower led the winless Rockets with six points. 

Malvern shot 56 percent from the field (32 of 57) compared to 22 percent for Conotton (7 of 32) and connected on six of nine free throws while the Rockets were six of 10 at the charity stripe.

The winners held a 27-18 edge on the boards, led by Witherow with six. Jered Petersen pulled down four for the Rockets. 

Conotton turned the ball over 19 times compared to six for Malvern, which improved to 6-0 overall with the win and 3-o in league play.

Malvern won the junior varsity game 43-25.