Wilcox Central got into the zone Friday night and wouldn’t let Calhoun escape its grasp.

The Jaguars remained unbeaten with a convincing 80-41 win over the Tigers in the opening round of the Central-Hayneville Holiday Tournament. The tourney was held at Southside High School due to renovations being done at the Central-Hayneville gym.

Six days after escaping with a six-point win over Calhoun last Saturday night, Wilcox Central changed from a man-to-man to a 2-3 zone defense to slow down the hot-shooting Tigers. The adjustment worked, as the Jaguars (4-0) owned the boards and the Tigers were just 2-of-19 from the 3-point arc.

“We also got into foul trouble last time,” Wilcox Central coach Mark Dukes said. “We had to go to a zone defense to keep us out of foul trouble this time.”

The Jaguars not only stayed out of foul trouble, they kept Calhoun from invading the inside lanes and keeping the Tigers outside where they were ineffective. Calhoun missed its first four shots to open the game.

When the Tigers managed to get inside on the Jaguars, they missed several easy layups and had many other shots rim out.

The opposite could be said about Wilcox Central, which practically ran and passed at will on the slower and smaller Calhoun. Anthony Price hit a slam-dunk over Calhoun’s Martarvis Hill late in the first period as the Jaguars coasted to a 19-6 lead. Wilcox Center Yamene Coleman grabbed an offensive rebound and scored the putback to give the Jaguars their largest lead of the first half, 36-15. Wilcox Central held a 39-24 halftime advantage.

The Jaguars turned up the intensity and pressure in the third quarter to break Calhoun’s 1-2-2 trap defense. Fueled by a 12-0 run, Wilcox Central broke open the game and took control, 54-28. Cortez Irby keyed the run with an offense rebound and tip-in, followed by a tip-in by Allen Crumpton and dunk by Coleman.

“We came out a lot more intense,” Dukes said. “We came out aggressive and we were prepared for their 1-2-2 trap.”

Another 12-0 run by Wilcox Central to open the fourth period turned the game into a rout. Crumpton’s three-pointer from the left corner started the period, while Price outraced the Tigers through the paint with a pair of driving layups. Price also sank four foul shots to put the Jaguars ahead 63-30.

Calhoun was still unable to find a solution for the Jaguars’ defense and was held scoreless in the final period until guard De Shawn Caldwell sank a jumper with 3:41 remaining to make it 66-32.