While other teams were participating in holiday tournaments, Sandy Creek was hosting a team from the other sub-region of region 4-AAAA. The game would serve as an indication of where the Sandy Creek boys and girls basketball teams were and how far they had to go to improve.

The Lady Patriots (2-0), coached by Tara Ware, seem to be in a similar place to last year, easily beating the Chapel Hill Lady Panthers, while the boys, who squared off against the Panthers, who are the number one ranked team in AAAA, have a ways to go before they are ready to compete at the top level.

The Sandy Creek girls opened a 15-8 lead by the end of the first quarter and widened it to a 34-20 lead by the half. they did this by shooting well, rebounding better and playing aggressive. By the end of the third quarter, Sandy Creek’s lead was 23 points and it would stay that way. The Lady Patriots won 65-42 with Morganne Campbell leading the way with 22 points. Lindsay Paschal added 11 points, and Jenna Jackson and Olympia Haney each had 10 points.

The boys had the opposite kind of game. Chapel Hill opened up a 10-2 lead early and kept the Patriots (1-1) at a distance for much of the night. A 14 point lead at the end of the first quarter became a 27 point lead by the half. Sandy Creek would win the second half, outscoring the Panthers 28-25, but Chapel Hill got the 70-46 win. Chapel Hill beat up the Patriots in the post, using their height advantage to score easy points and pull in a ton of rebounds. By scoring on the transition, the Panthers were able to build their sizable lead. Sandy Creek had trouble penetrating the Chapel Hill defense and were forced to take some tough shots.

Sandy Creek will play at Lithia Springs on Tuesday night with games starting at 6 p.m.

login to post comments