Wednesday, December 17, 2003
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Wednesday, December 17, 2003 |
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By MONROE
ROARK The Sandy Creek Patriots have just completed an unusually long string of road games and seem to be in pretty good shape at this point in the season, according to head coach Maurice Triche. After the Thanksgiving tournament at Morrow High School, the Patriots played six region games in two weeks, all but one of them on the road. After Saturday night’s 84-70 win over Chapel Hill in Douglas County, the team is 8-3 overall and 6-1 in Region 4-AAAA. The lone home game was Friday night against Woodward, and the Patriots won 68-37. That came after a 59-54 win at North Clayton Dec. 9. Aaron Caruthers continues to lead the team in scoring, racking up some impressive numbers last week. He poured in 26 against North Clayton, 18 against Woodward and 32 against Chapel Hill. Usimka Etim-Edet added 10 points against North Clayton and 13 against Chapel Hill, while Charles Belton had games of 10, 15 and 12 points for the week. “We’ve been playing well on the road,” said Triche, whose team came back from a halftime deficit against Chapel Hill. “We’ve been winning on the road, even the close ones, and that’s important.” Naturally, this lopsided scheduling will turn in the Patriots’ favor after the Christmas break. After games at Douglas County and Northgate the first week of January, their next six region games in a row will be at home. The Fayette County Lady Tigers had an excellent weekend, starting with a Friday win over Mundy’s Mill. Kristin Bunch scored 17 in the 65-52 victory, followed by Tiffany Norris with 15 and Richea Harris with 14. Saturday night produced an upset, with the Lady Tigers pulling out a 61-58 win over Carver of Columbus after falling behind by 14 in the first half. The team scored 42 of its points after intermission. Bunch turned in a 20-point performance, and Courtney Morton scored 13, hitting 3 clutch free throws in the final minutes. Richea Harris had 12 points, 7 assists and 9 rebounds. Several things went right for the Lady Tigers in the second half, according to head coach Teresa Ellison, as shots were falling, the press was working and turnovers were way down. “This was a giant step for us. It shows that any team can win on any night,” said Ellison. “You can’t just give up, and our girls stepped up to the challenge and refused to lose. Hopefully this is a trend we can continue to build and improve upon.” Earlier in the week, Carver and McIntosh squared off in Peachtree City The Carver boys won 72-53 in a game in which the two teams combined to hit 20 three-point field goals. The game was close in the middle but belonged to Carver early and late. The Tigers jumped out front 19-5 at the end of the first quarter. Carver continued firmly in control until Chiefs junior Chris O’Brien ran off a string of four straight 3-pointers to close the gap 10 points. Marcus Chisholm added a pair of driving lay ups and Cameron Wallis hit a free throw with only seconds left in the half to cut the Carver lead to 30-25. The Chiefettes, the McIntosh state champion competitive dance team, kept the crowd fired up with a flawless halftime performance. Carver opened the second half with a 13-5 run before Chisholm and O’Brien brought the Chiefs back again with two short jumpers and a long three. But the Chiefs could get no closer than six points before Carver took over first inside and then outside to pull away. Ten players scored for Carver, led by Steve Robinson with 16. O’Brien finished with 18 for the Chiefs. He had 6 of the Chiefs’ 8 three-pointers. Carver improved to 4-0 for the season. In the girls game, Carver’s Lady Tigers opened with a 20-point first quarter and cruised to an easy win. The Lady Chiefs could get no closer than 11 points all night long. McIntosh tried relentlessly to pound the ball inside to Haynes Kleimeyer, who finished with 22 points. But Carver forced turnovers with its sticky defense and controlled the boards. LeDella English scored 22 for the Lady Tigers and Malaika Pickard added 16. The Lady Bobcats of Our Lady of Mercy took a 5-2 record into Friday’s game against Landmark, with Amy Fortener and Uzi Moh averaging double figures in points and rebounds. The team opens play Friday in Woodward’s Christmas tournament. Starr’s Mill lost to Riverdale 65-49 Friday night in boys action. The team is now 3-5 overall and 2-3 in region play. With the Panthers ahead 16-9 early in the second period, leading scorer Mike Mock was injured diving for a loose ball, after which the Raiders quickly went on a 7-0 run to tie the game. The Panthers regrouped and took a 29-24 halftime lead, but in the third quarter Riverdale broke open the tight game behind the play of Brad Gaines, who hit 8 three-pointers on the night. Caleb Graham led the Panthers with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Landmark is the only local school represented in this week’s state coaches poll. The girls are ranked 14 in Class A and the boys are fifth. Back
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