The Hornbeck offense hit eight 3-pointers, which opened up the inside for drives to the rim, in its win over Rosepine.

The Hornets outscored the Eagles in the first three quarters en route to their 70-55 win Friday night at Rosepine High School.

"We did a good job at transition basketball," Hornbeck head coach Charlie Alexander said. "We really focused on that this week. "

Guard Grady Mitcham led Hornbeck with 21 points, with 15 of them coming from deep, while pulling down rebounds of both sides of the court.

"He's one of our best rebounders, and he's our point guard," Alexander said. "His shooting opens up the inside. They went to a triangle and two on him and Cooper Smith, and that really helped the big guys."

Rosepine (4-12) led 7-6 midway through the first quarter, but Hornbeck finished the quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 16-7 lead into the second.

With three minutes, 37 seconds left in the first half, the Eagles battled back, and a Xavier McCarty layup put cut the deficit to 25-23.

McCarty scored eight points in the second quarter and a team-high 20 points in the game.

"He's a great player," Fletcher said of McCarty. "He's a great student athlete and a great kid. He's a very positive person and I've really enjoyed coaching him. I can't ask for more than what he's giving me."

Hornbeck (15-8) took a 38-29 lead into the break after a half-court prayer from Grayson Dauzat banked off glass and through the net.

"I feel like we were right with them, and they hit a shot at half court to end the second quarter," Rosepine coach Daniel Fletcher said. "It was a back breaker. It was a Hail Mary shot that he threw up, which put them back up nine. I thought, as far as offense, we had some success. We just couldn't get stops on defense.

"It's hard to guard them all.

In the third quarter, Hornbeck took control, outscoring Rosepine 18-10 to extend the lead to 56-39 at the end of the quarter.

"We were right in the ball game, but I feel like in the third quarter, they really picked it up on us," Fletcher said. "They made a run and kind of put the game out of reach."

At the 4:50 mark of the fourth quarter, Smith hit a layup to increase the Hornbeck lead to 21, and the Hornets cruised to the win.

"It's part of the game," Fletcher said. "They're a good team and have a good record. We knew coming in that they had a good team, but I didn't think they'd shoot the ball as well as they did. It's hard to beat people when they hit eight 3s. Their whole team shot the ball well."

Dauzet scored 19 points for the Hornets with 10 coming in the fourth quarter.

"He does all the dirty work for us," Alexander said of his forward. "It's his role on the team, and he accepts it."

Josh Stephens led Rosepine with 18 points, and Brayden Blakeway scored seven.