Guilford Vikings beat Hononegah 79-49 in late game shutout
Hononegah traveled down to Rockford to play the #1 Guilford Vikings in a NIC-10 matchup that puts Hono a game behind Auburn, and keeps Guilford a game up as they try to secure the conference boys basketball championship.
The Feb. 2, 2026 game was close in the first half with two huge threes by Dante Bell in the first quarter giving the Indians the momentum, but after a brief intermission in play the Vikings came back rolling with some tough buckets in the paint by junior center Ricky Williams.
As the half went on, Guilford’s physicality and Hononegah repeatedly fouling gave them easy chances at the line with Williams again and senior shooting guard Branden Chatman.
And it was Chatman who closed the half with a huge 3 putting them up 38-34.
Hononegah kept at it though at one point getting the score as close as 37-40 off a bucket from senior shooting guard Oba Fasalojo.
Guilford began to ramp up their scoring aggression scoring 41 points in the second half, whereas Hono struggled to find any rhythm past halftime only scoring 15 points in the second.
The game was sealed with a Danilo Vazic and-1 that had the Guilford crowd rolling as the freshman guard ended his night with five points.
Guilford’s offense was led by 12 points from Chatman, and 14 points from Woods in a two-headed attack.
Hononegah was led by Bell with 13 points and 11 points from senior forward Damariea Briggs as they tried to capture some momentum of their own.
Guilford moves on to the Jefferson J-Hawks on 2-4 in a conference matchup against a team they’ve already beaten once this year 87-42 December 5.
Hononegah returns home to face the Harlem Huskies in a rematch of a matchup they won 54-42 also on December 5.
The Vikings look to carry on their momentum and become back-to-back conference champions.
Hononegah, on the other hand, hopes to preserve and recapture some of their momentum in an impressive 20-win season helmed by coach Tom Schmidt.
Thanks to Evan King for the images used in the story.
