Spencer Shaw’s 26 Points + Jake Parker’s Triple-Double Lead Whitehouse to Rout of Hallsville

WHITEHOUSE -- The Whitehouse Wildcats may not have been at full strength Friday night, but that didn't seem to matter.

Behind a tenacious full-court press, the hot shooting of Spencer Shaw and a triple-double from point guard Jake Parker, Whitehouse cruised to a dominant 89-45 win over Hallsville at Wildcat Arena.

Nine players were active for Whitehouse and all nine found the scoring column, including six that registered at least eight points.

"We shot the ball well from several different spots tonight," said Whitehouse coach Brent Kelley. "A lot of guys made shots, played with a lot of energy, got some steals in the press and made a few runs. It's been like that lately. Any night, we've had contributions from different guys. That's what it takes to win some games. We don't count on the same guy to lead us every night, and that's definitely a good thing."

Shaw knocked down four 3-pointers and finished with 26 points to lead the way for Whitehouse (15-4), which was once again without leading scorer Patrick Mahomes, who may return to action early next week.

"He's really stepped up since Pat's been out," Kelley said. "I think the last six or seven games he's averaging about 25 (points per game). But there's other guys stepping up too. Maybe they were only scoring five or six (points per game), and now they're scoring 10 or 12. It's more than just one person and when you have that you can score in the 80's and 90's."

Parker finished the night with 12 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and five steals to complete the triple-double after finishing one assist short in the championship game of the Wagstaff Holiday Classic last Saturday in Tyler.

"Sometimes he gets lost in the fact that he's not scoring enough, but I told him he doesn't have to score a whole lot for us to be successful," Kelley said of Parker, who converted three of the Wildcats' nine 3-pointers on the night. "In some of our better games this year he's had eight or 10 assists and 12 or 13 rebounds. He's been our leading rebounder from day one -- almost averaging double digits per game as a point guard. Tonight, you saw him find his stroke a little bit. I told him that's the only thing that'd been missing for him. Hopefully this gets him off to a good start, especially with district coming up."

Kelley, in his first season at Whitehouse after imploring a full-court press to take Jacksonville's program to new heights the last few years, saw his philosophy really begin to take shape against Hallsville. Whitehouse came away with 15 steals as a team.

"I think it helps us play fast, it gets us playing faster offensively," Kelley said. "That's when we're at our best, when we're out running and playing in transition. I think the defense kinda plays into that and the guys are doing a good job. We've still got to get a lot better at it, but they've adapted well and it's been good for us so far."

Hallsville (4-11), which has just two seniors on its roster, was led by Andrew Howell's 11 points.

Whitehouse went on three crippling runs that turned Friday's game into an easy runaway. The Wildcats' 10-0 spurt in the opening quarter created a 12-2 lead. And after Hallsville pulled to within 17-14, Whitehouse proceeded to score 21 of the game's next 23 points to open up a 38-16 lead with 2:58 remaining in the first half. A 19-0 run in the third quarter helped finish off Hallsville, which trailed 71-35 entering the fourth.

Hallsville hosts Jacksonville on Friday in its final non-district tuneup before opening 14-4A action at Marshall next Friday. Whitehouse has one more non-district game remaining -- at Marshall on Tuesday -- before beginning 16-4A play next Friday at Corsicana.

"It's been a really weird season so far," Kelley said. "We started out on fire, winning the Lindale Tournament. Then we've gone through some injuries and some illnesses. We haven't been a full strength in about three weeks. We're excited to get some guys back, hopefully next week. But we've played well without those guys and now we've got to bring them back in and find the right mix and chemistry that first week (of district)."

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Whitehouse 89, Hallsville 45

At Wildcat Arena, Whitehouse

Hallsville                 14   12    9   10   --   45
Whitehouse            23   23   25   18   --   89
HALLSVILLE (4-11) -- Andrew Howell, 11; Nolan Johnson, 8; Ryan Cole, 7; Johnathan Mitchell, 5; Gabe Pawlak, 5; Jacob Taylor, 5; Ben Dewoody, 2; Aaron Howell, 2.
WHITEHOUSE (15-4) -- Spencer Shaw, 26; Jake Parker, 12; Jaylon Dews, 9; Landon Glasscock, 9; Isaiah Clark, 8; Drew Smith, 8; Devon Miles, 7; Brady Hill, 6; Bryce Hand, 4.
THREE-POINT GOALS -- Hallsville: Johnson, Taylor, Pawlak, Cole. Whitehouse: Shaw (4), Parker (3), Smith, Miles.