Herky girls, Jefferson boys win at Hoops for Hope on KJFF

(Festus) The Herculaneum Blackcat girls and Jefferson Blue Jay boys came away with gritty victories Friday night as part of Hoops for Hope on KJFF.

The Herky girls started the night with a 51-37 win, largely powered by a rising star.

Junior forward Macey Pilliard scored a career-high 26 points, 17 in the first half, to help Herculaneum pull away from a tie game in the first quarter and win its 7th game in the last 8 tries.

Blackcats head coach Riley Blair says they made an concerted effort to get the ball into the paint.

Herculaneum is now 10-6 and 2-0 in conference play while Jefferson falls to 8-10 and 0-2 in the JCAA Small-School Division.

In the boys’ game, Jefferson won 52-48, holding off a furious Herky rally in the fourth quarter thanks to one of their senior leaders.

Colby Ott scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the second half to help the Blue Jays win for the 7th time in the last 10 games.

Head coach Sean Breeze says Ott’s natural physical gifts make him a great defender and hard to guard on the other end.

Jefferson improves to 9-7 and 1-1 in the JCAA Small-School Division, while Herculaneum falls to 1-10 and 0-2 in the league.

Along with the basketball, it was a night of good deeds, as Hoops for Hope raised $8,000 for the family of Lisa Smith has she prepares for cancer treatment and another $1,000 for Brendan’s Backpacks.

To hear the full game broadcasts again, click play below.