Malone Basketball Report- 12/18/08

By Ryan Maloney
On Thursday,the Malone Varsity Girls took on the Lady Bulldogs in Malone, a team for the last couple of years they normally had success against, but tonight was a completely different story. The Lady Bulldogs made this game a pain for Malone fans to watch as they went in the half down 12-27 and eventually ended up losing to Marianna 30-57. There was not much to say about this game folks, all for the fact you got your money’s worth if you were a Marianna fan that night. This night was also the last game coached by Steve Welch for the Malone Varsity Girls, he is now solely the Varsity Boys head basketball coach. PG Vanessa Olds lead the Lady Tigers with 11 pts.
Malone and Marianna, the very mention of those two teams on the same court on one night brings even the most casual basketball fan to the gym. Anyone who attends Malone knows Malone don’t like the purple and gold and Marianna don’t like the orange and blue much either. This rivalry is different than most, hatred not being the full motivation but basically bragging rights since students from both schools are frequently next-door neighbors or relatives. So it was easy to say both teams wanted this one but it was apparent that Marianna had the upper hand on this night. The Tigers came out shooting flat from the get-go, still kept the game competitive, but found themselves down 10 at the half 33-23 and probably should have been down less. The Tigers just went downhill from their 10 point deficit, Chase Leeks, one of Malone’s big menwas in foul trouble for most of the game, the offense that had no patience and looked out of whack, and the fact that nothing was falling for the orange and blue in the cat house that night lead to their eventual defeat of 55-73. The leading scorers for Malone were T.J Smith with 21 pts and Ladarius McElroy with 13 pts. The leading scorer for Marianna was C.J Blount with 19 pts.
By far the best game of the night was the least watched, the Malone Tigers JV and Marianna Bulldogs JV played in a thrilling contest that had even this writer on his feet. Marianna was up 2 at the half but Malone led most of the 2nd half. With the score all knotted up at 54 with 9.8 seconds left, a Marianna player, Tre’ Jackson dribbled the entire length of the floor while managing to avoid a double dribble call and scored the GW lay-up to defeat Malone. Shaquille McDole and Chai Baker both had 17pts for the Tigers.
Saturday 12/6/08
If you didn’t know it, my friends you know it now, weird things happen on homecoming and the Malone Varsity Girls game was a prime example. It was the first game for new head coach Randy Ward and the Lady Tigers were taking on Ponce De Leon, a team early in the season that had beat them by 20+ points. So the Malone Homecoming had the Lady Tigers looking like a entirely different ball club. The game was close throughout but the newfound patience of the Tigers gave them the lead at the half 19-16. The Lady Tigers executed the best they had all season to cap off a Homecoming victory that was shocking to even the fans present and undoubtedly pumped up the boys. They eventually won 50-44 by making their free throws and holding on to the ball. Guards Latosha Hall and Vanessa Olds both had 13 pts to lead the Tigers. While Venesha Hearns chipped in 10 pts and also key minutes were gave by 8th grader Tierra Brooks . The record for coach Ward to start a career, now 1-0.
On Saturday, the Malone Varsity boys took on the Ponce De Leon Pirates. This game had its headlines for sure. Four players on the team were suspended , three of them, key contributors. But that gave the opportunity for three JV players to be called up and see some playing time. The game started off like the Tigers really missed those guys who were in street clothes, being down as many as 14 in the first quarter. But when coach Welch put John Little , Ty and Chai Baker on the floor, new life was given to the team. Malone rallied all the way from 14 down to take a 15 point lead. The Malone offense actually looked like one as there were touches in the paint. And the Tigers lead on to win this crazy game 62-51 , coach Steve Welch called this game, one of the funnest games he has coach in the last couple of years. Malone shot 36 free throws while Ponce shot 20 and the leading scorers for the Tigers were three point guru Micheal McArthur with 17pts and Ladarius McElroy with 16 pts.
Monday 12/8/08
The gym floor at Northside Methodist Academy may be rubber tile but the Malone Tigers left out of there with anything but a squeaky clean victory. The Tigers left Dothan that night with a well-deserved victory and one that they worked hard for. Folks, Northside Methodist has a special air to it like no other place has and its called adversity but the Tigers survived it on this faithful Monday. This Monday, coach Steve Welch started a 7th grader in Chai Baker and an 8th grader in Ty Baker but little do they remember last year, these very same Tigers were down at the half to the Knights of Northside . It was deja-vu "all over again" on Monday as Malone was down 7 at the half and ironically down as many as 14 as they were trailing Ponce De Leon by 14 on Saturday. The common denominator down 14 the Tigers won both games. On Monday night, the 3rd quarter was a perfect storm as the Tigers played their best ball all season in the 3rd scoring 31 points in the quarter. The Tigers held off the Knights of Northside to win by 11 and defeating Northside Methodist Academy on their home floor may it be rubber for the second straight year. The leading scorers were T.J Smith with 27 pts(3 3’s in 3rd) and Chase Leeks with 13 pts (11 in the 2nd half). Mike Peak also chipped in with 12 pts.
In Malone JV action, it was the McDole-N-Little Show on in Dothan Monday night. Shaquille McDole lead the Tigers with 27 pts and John Little had a modest 24 pts. The Tigers ended up winning 62-47 against the Knights of Northside. They beat the team that beat them to start the season off last year.