King’s Fork won its 14th straight district game this season on Thursday, defeating Hickory 86-44 on Senior Night. The Hawks had a tough time scoring without leading scorer Jason Griggs.

No player had a spectacular game, but team play is what won the game for the Bulldogs. Jaquon Parker led the team with 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. His fellow wingman Jamar Wertz followed with 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Davante Gardner also had 16 points and seven rebounds and his frontcourt mate Jay Copeland finished with 10 points and four blocks.

Senior Chris Hearn excited the crowd early with a putback dunk off of a miss by Parker at the 6:43 mark in the first quarter to tie the game at four apiece. The Hawks tried to implore the same tactics as many of the Kings Fork’s opponents have tried this season: stalling.

“We’ve been there with Lakeland and we’ve worked on it,” Bulldog coach Josh Worrell said of the Hawks offensive strategy, “our guards did a good job attacking it and causing turnovers.”

Wertz nailed a spectacular three-pointer by fading away from the basket to put the Bulldogs up on their next possession at the 5:03 mark.

Hickory again tried stalling for over a minute their next trip down, but Parker made a steal and was fouled on the fast break. Goaltending was called, scoring the basket with the foul.

The Bulldogs finished the first quarter up 17-6. The second quarter was all King’s Fork as the Bulldogs started on an 11-4 run. Hickory was forced to call timeout after Gardner scored on a drop-step layup to give the Bulldogs a 32-12 lead at the 3:08 mark. KF led 40-17 at the half.

The third quarter was much of the same from the Bulldogs, starting on a 12-5 run. King’s Fork would ultimately win the game 86-44.

Worrell spoke on the special group of seniors on his team, “It’s been four years of hard work with them. It’s been their hard work that’s gotten us to where we are.”