12/25/08

Seven of Jackson County’s varsity squads (four girls and three boys) hit the floor at the Milton H. Johnson Health Center this past weekend in the 2008 Norris D. Langston Youth Foundation’s Education Classic. The following is a summary of the results from the seven county teams that took part in the event.
Girls Action
Cottondale – The Lady Hornets took on East Gadsden on Friday night and fell 68-54. Shaunte Forward paced Cottondale with 19 points and Kieysa Paul followed with 15 points. East Gadsden led 15-11 at the end of the first quarter. Forward kept Cottondale close with some three pointers but the Lady Jaguars expanded their lead to 7 points at the half. The third quarter was evenly played as East Gadsden outscored Cottondale 17-16. In the final quarter Cottondale cut the lead to as few as 6 points twice as Paul and Shay Wright hit key buckets. But in the end the Lady Jaguars pulled away for a 14 point victory.
On Saturday it was another all Jackson County matchup as Cottondale and Sneads squared off. The Lady Pirates hung tough with Cottondale for 2 ½ quarters but then the Lady Hornets pulled away for a 60-36 win. Cottondale led 26-20 at the half and midway through the third quarter Sneads had pulled to within 2 points at 28-26. But from there it was all Cottondale as they exploded for 22 unanswered points en route to the 24 point victory. Sneads was led by Mattie Collins with 20 points. Forward and Paul led the Lady Hornets, who improved to 9-3 on the season, with 14 points each.
In other girls action Malone fell to Port St. Joe on Thursday. Marianna downed Sneads on Friday and then lost to Godby on Saturday.
Boys Action
Cottondale – The Cottondale Hornets entered the classic on a roll, having won three straight games. On Friday night they made it four in a row with a 65-58 win over West Gadsden. Marcus Humose had a big night for the Hornets as he pumped in 29 points. Drew Bellamy followed with 12 and Terry Benbow contributed 10 points. Cottondale led 31-27 at the half and then 48-46 going into the final quarter. The Hornets outscored the Panthers 19-10 in the fourth quarter to secure the 7 point win.
In Saturday night’s contest they took on the Seahawks of Franklin County. The Hornets trailed for most of the game but kept battling. They trailed 31-19 at the half and cut it to a 7 point deficit, 43-36, going into the final quarter. With just over two minutes to play they cut it to a five point game but the Seahawks refused to break under the pressure. Drew Bellamy had back to back buckets in the final two minutes to pace the Hornets on offense but defensively Cottondale could not slow down the Seahawks. Humose hit a basket with a minute to play to make it a 3 point game. Terry Benbow’s bucket with 30 seconds to play cut it to a 1 point game at 57-56 in the Seahawks favor. But Franklin County hit several key free throws in the final seconds to pull out a 62-58 win over the Hornets. Humose again led the Hornets with 25 points and Bellamy followed again, this time with 10 points.
Marianna – The Bulldogs lost a heart breaker on Friday night as they took on powerhouse East Gadsden. After jumping out to an early 15-13 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Bulldogs expanded their lead in the second quarter. After being up by as many as 11 points, they led 30-23 at the half. Chris Blount got the crowd on their feet several times during the first half with a couple of thundering slam dunks. But the second half saw the Jaguars battle back and trailed by just four at the end of the third quarter. East Gadsden then took the lead in the fourth quarter and led by 2 with seconds to play. Quan Boykin hit a shot at the buzzer. Initially ruled a 3 pointer, which would have given the Bulldogs the win, the officials changed their call and ruled the shot a two pointer. That tied the game at 55-55 and forced the game into overtime. The Bulldogs could not hang on in overtime and fell 70-66. Kruize Penkins led the Bulldogs with 18 and Blount followed with 15. Tre Long added 14 and R.J. Bowers chipped in 10.
On Saturday night the Bulldogs matched up with the Tiger Sharks of Port St. Joe. Once again the ‘Dogs got out of the gate quickly and took a 11-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Marianna got up by as many as 10 points in the second quarter before the Tiger Sharks mounted a rally to pull within two points going into the halftime break. The Tiger Sharks continued their surge into the third quarter and took a 38-30 lead midway through the quarter. Port St. Joe held a 46-34 lead going into the last quarter. The Bulldogs did not quit though and with just over three minutes left in the game cut the Tiger Shark lead to 8. But that was a close as they could get and Port St. Joe held on for a 67-50 victory. Marianna was led on the night by Blount with 11 points and Penkins with 10.
Malone – The Tigers fought hard but fell 61-54 to the Tiger Sharks of Port St. Joe. On Saturday they squared off against a much bigger East Gadsden team and fell. For more details on these games see the Malone Tiger Report by Ryan Maloney on B2.