By SETH HAGAN | For the Reporter

Hoover – The Spain Park Jaguars took a tough one to the chin Thursday night, playing well enough to win at home, but the Jags couldn’t make the plays down the stretch as the Homewood Patriots (2-0) snatched a 43-37 win.

Points were at a premium as each team hit 15 field goals and exchanged the lead nine times, but the longer range of Homewood’s shooters played a big part.

The Jags and Patriots took turns with the lead, but two of Marcello Nanni’s four three pointers of the night gave Homewood a slim 10-9 lead after the first quarter.

Spain Park retook the lead on the back of eight Homewood turnovers and got multiple baskets from four different players in the first half. They also held the Patriots to two field goals.

A 10-5 advantage in the second quarter left the Jaguars with the 19-15 lead going into halftime.

Homewood made their move after a couple of Jaguar baskets to start the second half left them down by eight. They knocked down three treys in a row to fuel an 11-0 run that flipped the momentum of the game.

Cam Crawford scored seven of his team-high 10 for Spain Park in the quarter, but Nanni and Jack Dorough each hit two triples in the third quarter as the Patriots had their best quarter and moved into the final period with a razor thin 31-30 lead.

The Patriots grew their lead to 37-32 as they finally began to turn the Jags over. Only able to do so eight times through three quarters, Homewood made five big stops where Spain Park couldn’t even attempt a shot.

Matters worsened when the Jaguars put the Patriots in the bonus where they hit four of their last six free throw attempts to ice the game.

In an odd game, of four players who scored multiple times in the first half, only Chip Culpepper was able to score in the second half.

Spain Park (2-3) won’t play again until after the Thanksgiving weekend when they travel to McAdory High School on Tuesday, Nov 27. Tipoff will be at 7:30 p.m.