McLEANSBORO — After suffering through four straight losses since Dec. 20, Hamilton County’s boys basketball team came home to the confines of the Foxes Den and picked up two straight wins.

Hamilton County improved its record to 5-10 going into the Benton Invitational Tournament this week.

The Foxes opened the week Jan. 10 by hosting West Frankfort, clipping the Redbirds, 43-24.

On Friday, Hamilton County hosted former Fox player and coach Wade Thomas and his Johnston City Indians, holding off a fourth-quarter comeback attempt to post a 53-44 victory.

The West Frankfort Redbirds were new to the Foxes’ schedule this season, and the Foxes took a 6-5 lead in the low-scoring contest. CJ Lemmons cashed in four free throws and Adam Rubenacker made a steal and drove in for two.

The second quarter saw the Foxes double the score at 14-7 midway through the quarter as Levi Lueke added a rebound basket and Lemmons passed out to Rubenacker for three, while Justin Reyling came off the bench to add two free throws and Chad Flannigan hit one of two from the line.

West Frankfort cut the lead to 14-10, but Reyling again hit two from the stripe and Lueke one as the Fox lead went back up to 17-10. The Redbirds narrowed the lead to four again, then Nathan Anselment put back a rebound basket for a 19-13 advantage.

The Redbirds scored one more basket right before the horn as the Foxes held on to a 19-15 lead at the half.

The third quarter saw the Redbirds hang close for the first three minutes. Rubenacker knocked down a trey, while Lemmons drove to the basket for two scores putting the Foxes up 6. Lueke then swished a corner shot and Lemmons drilled a trey as the Fox lead grew to 31-20. Reyling came down court and put in a trey completing the Foxes 10-0 run.

West Frankfort managed to score one more time before the third quarter horn, but  the Foxes held a comfortable 34-22 lead going into the fourth.

The final stanza saw the Foxes defense come to life big time holding the Redbirds to a single basket in the fourth, while the Foxes added nine points to their total. A free throw by Lemmons and two by Lueke put the Fox lead to 37-22, then Lueke found Biggerstaff backdoor for two. Rubenacker then made a theft and went in for the easy layup.

West Frankfort scored their only basket with 1:34 left in the fourth and then Travis Stevens rebounded a miss and put it back in for the Foxes final points of the game as the Foxes claimed a 43-24 victory to snap a four game losing streak.

Lemmons had 12, Rubenacker 10, Lueke and Reyling 7 each, Biggerstaff, Anselment and Stevens each had 2 and flannigan 1.

“We came out a little sluggish in the first half,” Fox coach Keith Welch said. “We haven’t seen a zone all year and I knew we might come out a little sluggish against it. We slowed our pace down and took care of the basketball. Reyling came in and helped us out. We know that he can shoot the ball. His time came tonight. He’s always working hard in practice and he is upbeat and he did a great job and sparked us tonight He took care of the ball. We went to a 2-3 zone in the second half and did a pretty good job with that. If it works, we’ll continue to use it , if not we’ll go back to a man to man. I’m for what works.”

The Foxes welcomed home former Fox Wade Thomas and his Indians from Johnston City on Friday the 13th. No black cats were seen and nothing strange happened.

The only bad luck on the night seemed to be with the Johnston City Indians as the Foxes jumped out to an 11-3 lead as Lemmons and Flannigan took charge of the Fox offense in the quarter as Lemmons scored 8 points and Flannigan 5 as the Foxes took a 13-7 lead after one quarter of action.

To start the second quarter, Flannigan and Lemmons continued to be the Fox offense as the Foxes built a 19-13 advantage only to see the Indians cut the gap to 19-17.

Flannigan made a move inside for two, them Lemmons rounded out the final minutes of the first half with a layup inside and then a trey on a pass from Flannigan. At the half, the Foxes had built up a 26-17 lead.

Flannigan got the Foxes going in the third with a spin move inside, then Lueke powered inside after getting a pass from Flannigan. Rubenacker then made a steal and went in for the layup, but it fell off the rim, but Lueke followed and put it back in.

Two straight scores by the Indians got the visitors within 11, but the Foxes quickly increased the lead back to 39-22 at the third quarter stop.

The Foxes maintained their 11-12 point advantage for most of the last five minutes. The Indians tried one last time getting as close as 8, but the Foxes cashed in four of six free throws in the final minute to preserve the 53-44 win.

Lemmons had his best scoring game of the season as he poured in 29 points. Flannigan followed with 16 points, Lueke chipped in 4, Anselment 3 and Rubenacker 1.

“We got a little momentum going into the Benton Tournament with these two wins,” Welch said. “The kids played hard tonight and I thought we did a really good job in the third quarter and made a nice little run and got up about 17. We kind of fell off down the stretch, but the kids have to learn to hold a lead and hang onto it. We made our free throws down the stretch.

“The kids are working hard, and we try and reward them with playing time. The younger kids are coming in and giving us good minutes.

“Johnston City is very competitive, and Wade is doing a good job down there,” Welch said.