By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

Sandy Creek and Starr's Mill got together for their final basketball game of the regular season on Friday night, and both teams wanted to make a statement.

The Patriots came out strong, building a 13-7 lead in the first quarter and oushing the lead to nine at the half. William Belton hit a number of threes to give sandy Creek the lead and all the momentum. They had increased the lead to 14 in the second half before Starr's Mill woke up and started cutting into the lead.

The fourth quarter belonged to Starr's Mill, which outscored Sandy Creek 17-5. Dane Davenport penetrated and dished to his teammates as the Panthers stormed back into the game. The Starr's Mill defense also woke up, holding all Sandy Creek players under double figures. With under a minute to play, Starr's Mill trailed by two points. The two teams went scoreless on their next few posessions and with 18 seconds remaining Matt Houck was fouled. Houck made one of his two foul shots, leaving the Panthers still down by one point.

Sandy Creek's L.T. Lockett was fouled immediately afterwards and went to the line shooting a one and one. He missed the shot and Houck pulled down the rebound and drove the length of the court. He passed to Davenport with 1.2 seconds remaining. Davenport nailed the shot and Starr's Mill won by a score of 45-44. Starr's Mill finished the regular season 3-7 in region play, while Sandy Creek finished 5-5 in region play. The Panthers opened the tournament on Monday against Woodward Academy, while the Patriots played against Forest Park.

In other games played over the weekend, the Starr's Mill Lady Panthers edged out the Sandy Creek Lady Patriots, 38-35. Lovejoy defeated the Fayette County lady Tigers 41-36, while the Fayette County boys defeated Lovejoy, 74-64.

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