John Hay Tops Open Door 77-61 in Opener of Wellington Holiday Tourney

WELLINGTON, OHIO – The John Hay Hornets put their foot on the gas in the opening eight minutes, and used a huge early lead to cruise to a 77-61 win Thursday afternoon over the Open Door Patriots.

The win was the opener of the Wellington Holiday Tournament at Wellington High School.

The Hornets, who move to 6-3 overall on the season, were led by Nigel Martin with 26 points, he hit 16 in the first half, 10 in the second.

Senior Robert Toney added 16 in the win for John Hay, three of the five Hornets were in double digits.

The Patriots, who made it a game late hitting three 3’s in the final period, got 21 from Jared Bublinec in the loss.

Sophomore Careter Wright, who was a game time decision, gutted it out and played tough all day, hitting 19 points, 10 in the first half and nine in the second.

With the setback, Open Door falls to 5-3 on the season.

The Hornets started fast, hitting 12-of-17 from the field in the first eight minutes, building a big lead after going up 6-2, they went on a 22-3 run to end the first quarter up 28-5.

In that first quarter they hit 4-of-6 from three-point range to take control early, and also out rebounded the Patriots 10-3.

They led 41-21 at the half, as they continued to play tough as the Patriots tried as they could to play catch up.

The second half was pretty evenly played, but with the big advantage the Hornets were able to cruise to the 16-point victory.