By Peter Vankevich
Ocracoke teams dominated Columbia at home Tuesday as the Dolphins beat the Wildcats 64-43 and the Lady Dolphins beat the Lady Cats 71-39.
Dalton Kalna got the Dolphins (8-5, 4-1 home) moving by scoring a quick nine points that enabled the team to take a commanding 19-7 first quarter lead. The second quarter continued strong playing by the Dolphins to finish the half with a 35-25 lead.
The only slow-down occurred in the third quarter as the Wildcats (4-9, 3-3 away) clawed their way back to trail 35-32. The Dolphins didn’t score a point until Liam Caswell hit a jumper with 2:08 remaining in the quarter. The Dolphins woke up, scoring a total of eight points in the remaining time to take a 43-35 lead.
The fourth quarter was again dominated by the Dolphins to win 64-43.
Kalna finished with 12 points to take the “Player of the Game” award. Brandon O’Neal hit some key shots in the second half and finished with 10 points as did Evin Caswell. Liam Caswell had 11. Matteus Gilbert, coming off injured reserve with a knee injury, had solid play and finished with six points.
CJ Swan was the high scorer for the Wildcats, and Deion Hollowy added nine.
There was not much in doubt with the Lady Dolphin (8-5, 4-3 home) vs. the Lady Cats (1-13, 1-6 away) as Ocracoke took a commanding 19-2 first quarter lead.
The final score was 71-39.
Sydney Austin had another solid game, scoring 28 points and 10 rebounds. She had plenty of support from her teammates.
Iris Trejo also shone, finishing with 15 points. Bricia Moreno and Carla Perez each scored eight points. The team made seven three-point shots out of 23 attempts.
