By LLOYD COMBS
for the Daily Telegraph
COUNCIL, Va. — This time Hurley got a lead and was able to protect it.
The Rebels held off Council in the final minutes for a 53-45 win over the Cobras in Crooked Road Conference play Friday night at Council Elementary School.
The win gave Hurley a sweep in varsity play. The Lady Rebels defeated Council, 72-26 in the girls contest.
In the boys nightcap Jared Justus and Josh Mullins combined for 15 points in the first half as Hurley (3-10) methodically built a 29-16 halftime lead.
That working margin held up in the second half of the slow-paced game.
"We needed something like this to help us out," said Hurley coach Mark Cooper, whose young team has suffered some heart-breaking losses this season. "We've had four games this year that we've lost on a last-second shot and it looked like it was going to come down to that tonight.
"But we did just enough down the stretch and maybe we learned something from our mistakes that helped us get this victory."
Lucas Barton scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half for Council, which got as close as six points, 42-36 early in the fourth quarter.
The Rebels didn't panic, despite 11 second-half turnovers and continued to execute in key spots to keep their lead, scoring six unanswered points to rebuild the lead to 48-36.
A free throw by Barton got Council (3-13) within 49-43 with 30.6 seconds remaining. Mullins hit four straight free throws in the final 29 seconds.
Hurley found the open man often against Council's 2-3 zone, especially early. The Rebels converted 11-of-18 shots (61.1 percent) from the
field in the first half.
"I think in the first half we played pretty smart basketball," Cooper said. "That's not saying we executed exactly right, but we found the gaps and we put the ball where it needed to be. We shot really well in the first half."
Justus finished with 14 points and Mullins scored 12. Alex Pack added eight points and Dalton Hurley came off the bench to scored nine points.
Brady Justice handed out six of his seven assists before halftime, while Zack Lester had five assists and two steals. Hurley took away Council's pick-and-roll, a staple of its offense and the Cobras had trouble getting good shots.
"Coach Cooper does a great job as far as execution, he does as good a job as anybody we play," Council coach Patrick Wade said. "We take our hats off to them. They took away what we wanted to do."
Zack Tiller scored 12 points and Josh Stevens added nine for Council (3-13).

HURLEY (53)
Lester 4, Pack 8, Justice 3, Mullins 12, Justus 14, Spencer 3, Hurley
9, Hardin 0, Belcher 0.
COUNCIL (45)
Mackey 0, L. Barton 15, N. Barton 5, Tiller 12, J. Stevens 9,
H.Stevens 2, A. Barton 2, Rasnake 0.
Hurley...........................15 14 11 13 — 53
Council..........................11 6 13 15 — 45
3-point goals-H 1 (Hurley), C 2 (L. Barton, N. Barton). JV Game-Council won.