Basketball Recap: Asa Montgomery and Evan Mott Secure Win for Hillgrove

Hillgrove won the last time they faced Paulding County and things went their way on Friday too. The Hillgrove Hawks secured a 66-61 W over the Paulding County Patriots. Given the Hawks' advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia basketball rankings (they are ranked 37th, while the Patriots are ranked 129th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Hillgrove was led to victory by Evan Mott and Asa Montgomery. Mott dropped a double-double on 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Montgomery went 5 for 8 en route to 14 points along with eight boards and five blocks. The dominant performance gave Mott a new career-high in boards. Another player making a difference was Bryson Jatta, who went 5 of 12 on his way to 13 points and seven rebounds.

Paulding County lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Jerron Wilson, who posted 20 points. Wilson has been hot, having posted 15 or more points the last five times he's played. Jayden Lawson also deserves some recognition as he posted his first block of the season.

Hillgrove pushed their record up to 17-6 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 73.0 points per game. As for Paulding County, they have been struggling recently as they've lost five of their last six matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 12-11 record this season.

Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. It'll be a Battle of the Birds when the Hillgrove Hawks duke it out with the South Cobb Eagles at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. South Cobb will roll in looking for their fourth straight win, something Hillgrove surely won't give up without a fight. As for Paulding County, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Campbell at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Paulding County is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 62.9 points per game this season.