FERRIDAY. La. – The Huntington Hounds have taken their share of lumps early in the basketball season. Tuesday night, they gave some back in a 72-33 destruction of the Amite School Center Rebels here.

&uot;We’re really just trying to concentrate on the defensive side of the basketball,&uot; Huntington boys coach Michael McAnally said. &uot;Rebounding and defense are the two things we are really stressing. we got into our press tonight and were able to make some good things happen.&uot;

And they did so quickly, jumping out to a 17-5 lead and extending to 42-13 lead at the half. The 30-ish point margin remained throughout. Patrick Clayton, Jordan Owens and Crawford Kifer all had 12 for the Hounds, which improved to 4-4 overall, but more importantly, 3-0 in district play. Amite remained winless at 0-7.

Senior Todd Iverstine had a game-high 15 points. &uot;We look for Todd to do a lot for us out there on the court, he’s our point guard and he makes a lot of things happen for us,&uot; McAnally said. Taylor Knapp was the high man for ASC with 13 points.

Huntington girls 55, Amite School Center 19

Penny Moak’s ladies had no trouble with the Lady rebels either, methodically building what would prove to be an insurmountable lead from the opening tip, jumping out to a 16-2 lead after one quarter of play.

The defensive press by the Lady Hounds set the table for easy points, as Huntington outscored Amite 18-2 in the final frame. ASC wasn’t able to break double digits until midway through the third quarter.

The Lady Hounds improved to 4-7 on the season.

Emily Hazlip paced the Huntington attack with 16 points, followed by Tiffany Ferguson’s 12. Kathleen elders and Sarah Ashmore dumped in 10 and six, respectively.

Huntington’s next challenge comes Friday, as play host to Ben’s Ford Academy.

Huntington 72, Amite School Center 33

ASC 5 8 7 13 33 HHS 17 25 15 15 72

Huntington: Todd Iverstine – 15; Patrick Clayton – 12; Jordan Owens – 12; Crawford Kifer – 12; Barrett Arthur – 6; Josh Olds – 5; Doug Miller – 3; Nathan Addison – 3; Josh Johns – 2; Adam Trevillion – 2 Amite School Center: Taylor Knapp – 13; Trent Coleman – 10; Tyler Crawford – 3; Austin Bean – 2; Brent Bean – 2; Bradley Blalock – 2; Dean Lewis – 1

Huntington – 4-4 overall, 3-0 MPSA District 5-1A; next – home vs. Ben’s Ford, 7:30 p.m. Friday

Huntington 55, Amite School Center 19

ASC 2 5 10 2 19 HHS 16 10 11 18 55

Huntington: Emily Hazlip – 16; Tiffany Ferguson – 12; Kathleen Elders – 10; Sarah Ashmore – 6; JoLee Hughes – 5; Lauren Wagoner – 4; Jessie Moak – 4 Amite School Center: Brittany Walsh – 9; Allison Baham – 3; Mindy Seay – 3; Brooke Caster – 2

Huntington – 4-7 overall, 3-0 MPSA District 5-1A; next – home vs. Ben’s Ford, 6 p.m. Friday