MADISON- Bob Jones wrapped up the first half of the season Tuesday night with a dramatic 49-48 win over Hazel Green, their second straight one-point win. Both were area games.

“Any area win is a good win. These close games will help us down the road get better in late game situations. We will take it,” said Bob Jones coach Graham Aderholt.

Trailing 17-9 in the second quarter, Bob Jones got a three point play from Jonathon Moss and Dalton Barkley hit a three. Bob Jones’ pressure man-to-man defense forced a turnover and Deondre Douglas finished the fast break with a layup to give Bob Jones their first lead at 22-21.

Devontae Mason gave Bob Jones a lift off the bench with 7 first half points. He finished with 11 including 2 for 2 from behind the three point line.

“Devontae has a lot of potential and it showed tonight,” Aderholt said. “He is one of our guys that can really shoot the ball. He works a lot outside of practice time. We expect a lot of him.”

Aderholt also said that Mason can expect more playing time.

Bob Jones led 31-28 at the half and stretched it to 44-39 on a Barkley bucket on the baseline. The Patriots had their biggest lead at 48-42 on two Jonathon Moss free throws before Hazel Green whittled away led by Ethan Stair.

Stair’s driving layup closed the lead to four then he stole the pass and Bradley Belt scored to make it a two point game. Bob Jones went to Barkley to beat the press and he drew a foul. He hit one of two free throws as Bob Jones held on.

“Dalton has been solid for us and Dupree, our two seniors. We wanted to get the ball in their hands. We trust them,” Aderholt said.

Stair led all scorers with 22 points. Barkley had 18 points and 7 rebounds. Douglas had another strong game with 6 points and 1 rebound.

Bob Jones shot 50% in the second half and a sizzling 38% for the game. Bob Jones shot 25 free throws and made 14 while Hazel Green shot only 9 and made 6.

Bob Jones, now 7-5 (2-0 in area), will be in action locally in the Huntsville Times Classic on Dec 26-28.

“These next few games are games that get us ready for the area games we have coming up. We will work on different things, improve, and play better when we start area games back.”

Their next area game will be at home against Sparkman on Jan 6.