Wednesday, January 14, 2004
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Wednesday, January 14, 2004 |
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Panthers, Tigers sweep By MONROE ROARK Two county rivals met Friday night at Starr’s Mill, and the home team came away with two victories by considerable margins. The Panthers downed McIntosh 61-36 in a game that stayed close through the first quarter. Starr’s Mill led 13-8 after one period behind Andy Drum’s two three-pointers. But in the second quarter the Panthers outscored the Chiefs 18-4 to take a 31-12 lead into the locker room. The third period was more of the same, and the Panthers led by 30 going into the fourth on their way to the win. Ten Panthers scored points on the night, as Drum led with 17, followed by Mike Mock with 13 and sophomore Mark Harris with 10. In the girls’ game, Starr’s Mill defeated McIntosh 67-33 behind excellent team shooting. The Lady Panthers converted 20 of 39 two-pointers and 7 of 13 from three-point range. Eleven of the team’s 12 players scored in the game. Ashley Marine led the Lady Panthers with 20 points, including five threes. One of those was a half-court shot at the end of the third quarter. Angela Garza scored 12, while Jenny Norman and Aneesha Lane each contributed 6. Norman pulled down 11 rebounds, and Lane dished out 7 assists. Another county rivalry resumed Saturday night, as Sandy Creek visited Fayette County. The Lady Tigers defeated Sandy Creek 52-41 to improve their record to 10-6 on the season. The Lady Tigers were led in scoring by Richea Harris with 20 and Kristin Bunch with 12. Defensively, the Lady Tigers were led by Camille Lilly and Tiffany Norris. The Tigers and Patriots battled in an extremely close boys game, with Fayette County pulling out a 60-58 win. The Lady Panthers followed up the McIntosh matchup with a hard-fought 52-48 loss to Carver in a road game at Columbus. “This was probably the most intense game we have played,” said head coach Whitt Jones. ”We went into a hostile environment and the game came down to the wire. However, I think this gives my team confidence that we can play with anybody, anywhere — as long as we stay focused and remain calm.” Starr’s Mill again shot 50 percent from the floor. Carver had an extraordinary advantage at the foul line, with 22 attempts to only two for Starr’s Mill, but Carver missed half of those shots to help the Lady Panthers stay close. “The difference in the game was at the free throw line,” said Jones. Marine scored 13, while Norman and Katie Jacobsen each added 11 and Kirstin Massmann scored 8. On the boys’ side, the Panthers dropped a hard fought 71-59 contest to Carver. It was the third quarter that did in the visitors as they were outscored 19-9 by the host Tigers during that stanza. The first half was hotly contested with the Panthers up one (13-12) at the quarter and the Tigers up two (29-27) at the half. The fourth quarter saw both teams trading baskets. Caleb Graham scored 20 to lead Starr’s Mill, with Mock adding 19 and Drum scoring 13. The Tigers dominated this game at the foul line just like the girls did, as Carver converted 15 of 20 free throws while the Panthers were 4 of 6. The Panthers are currently 8-9 on the season and 4-4 in Region 4-AAAAA. Earlier in the week, the Panthers won a thriller at East Coweta as Graham sank a 15-foot jumper with seven seconds to play for a 53-51 win in a region game Jan. 6 in Sharpsburg. The game was tight all the way with East Coweta holding a 19-18 halftime lead. In the third quarter the teams began to swap leads with the Indians holding a 36-34 edge. Mock who started the game with a 10-point first quarter and boosted the Panthers down the stretch with an eight-point fourth quarter. He led the Panthers with 20 points. Graham added 16 and senior Andy Drum scored 13. Durrell Elom led EC with 13 points. In perhaps the most publicized game in Georgia last weekend, Landmark fell 71-63 to Southwest Atlanta Christian before a capacity crowd of more than 3,000 at Atlanta Metropolitan College. Randolph Morris led Landmark with 24 points and 25 rebounds in a battle against SW Atlanta center Dwight Howard. The two are among the top prospects in the entire nation. Justin Holland scored 15 for Landmark, and Sterling Brown added 12. The War Eagles were 5-1 in Region 5-A going into last night’s home game against Whitefield, and 10-6 overall in a schedule that has included several out-of-state tournaments against some of the country’s top teams. The team travels Monday to Greenville, S.C., for a one-day basketball event on the MLK holiday pitting five top teams from Georgia against top teams from South Carolina in separate games. Landmark tips off at 8 p.m. Landmark is tied with Whitefield for second in the state in Class A behind SW Atlanta, according to this week’s coaches poll at gabasketball.net. The Landmark-SW Atlanta rematch is scheduled for Jan. 30 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum and will be televised by ESPN. Tickets are now on sale at both schools and through Ticketmaster. In the girls’ game, Landmark defeated SW Atlanta 34-31 to improve to 8-10 overall and 4-3 in region play. Erin Camp scored 14 points for Landmark and Merritt Tidwell added 12.
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