Sometimes in the world of sports, there are games a team needs to win and there are games teams have to win.
For the Blackville-Hilda High varsity boys basketball team, Friday night’s game against North High was  a must-win situation.
After cruising with three straight wins to capture the championship in the Hawks’ Holiday Invitational tournament, Blackville-Hilda has slumped with four straight losses.
The drought, however, ended against the Eagles as the team put together its best performance in almost a month in a 72-67 victory.
With the win, Blackville-Hilda High improves to 8-8 in the standings.
Blackville-Hilda High coach Michael Beasley said it was almost panic time for his troops.
“We had to get this win tonight if we have hopes of staying in the playoff hunt,” Beasley said.
“Over the last couple of weeks we lost a few tough games in the region. Getting a victory tonight was very big. I have to give a lot of credit to our players. We showed a lot of fight in a game we had to win.”
A fast start helped draw Blackville-Hilda High out of its recent funk. The Hawks made 16 of their first 25 shots from the floor for a 36-28 halftime lead. The Hawks maintained their advantage in the second half behind the plays of Roderick Smith.
Smith had a phenomenal game, scoring 16 of his game high 27 points in the second half. Smith, also nabbed 14 rebounds, finisheing 10 of 14 from the field and seven of nine from the line.
“Roderick Smith gave us a big lift tonight on the boards as well as scoring,” Beasley said. “When we needed a basket, he provided it.”
Also Roderick Kearse and Dwayne Prophet were also instrumental in the victory.
Kearse had a good all-around performance with 16 points, nine assists, eight steals and three rebounds. Prophet contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Several other standouts for the Hawks offensively were Terrell Haynes, Darren Jones and J’Lan Johnson. Haynes finished with six points and seven steals while Jones had seven points, including a three-pointer and four assists. Johnson had eight steals and five assists.