Vincent wins opener

Published 3:41 pm Thursday, November 19, 2015

By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

VINCENT – The last basketball team standing across the county in 2014-15 took the floor for the first time this season on Nov. 17 in a home contest against Winterboro. This Vincent team looks entirely different than the team that played in the 2A Final Four back in late February. Primarily perimeter players Jace Green and Jacorey Roper led that team, but have since graduated, leaving head coach John Hadder to adjust his lineup according to his new group.

That new look was apparent in the first game of the 2015-16 season. EJ Datcher and Wesley King, two of the biggest bodies the Yellow Jackets have, led the way for Vincent en route to a low-scoring, 47-35 win over the Bulldogs. Vincent only managed 18 first half points and trailed 20-18 at the break before finding some rhythm on offense in the second half as Hadder’s group got their first win of the year.

The six-foot-nine-inch, 240-pound Datcher, playing in his first game for Vincent in almost a calendar year after going down with a knee injury last December, was good for a double-double, scoring 13 points and pulling in 14 rebounds to go along with three steals and a block. King was Vincent’s leading scorer with 15 points and also contributed 12 boards, two assists, two blocks and a steal for a double-double as well.

Vincent moved to 1-0 with the win and will travel to Childersburg on Nov. 20.