Sneads Takes Two Of Three From Cottondale- Dec. 11, 2008

By Clint Cox
SNEADS – The Cottondale Hornets flew into Sneads last Friday night but it was the Pirates that flew the victory flag as they captured wins in the boys JV and varsity games. The Lady Hornets salvaged the lone win for Cottondale as they beat the previously unbeaten Lady Pirates.
In girls action the Lady Hornets jumped out to an early lead and never let off the throttle as Shaunte Forward scorched the nets for 16 first half points and helpped Cottondale surge to a 30-9 halftime lead. The second half was more of the same as the Lady Hornets went on to win 62-22. Forward led all scorers with 27 points while teammates Kidda Paul had 11 and Jakia Grimsley had 10 points. Sneads was led by La’Tilya Baker with 11 points. The win improved the Lady Hornets to 5-2 while Sneads fell to 4-1.
In JV boys action the Pirates improved to 3-1 with a 56-38 win over the Hornets. Sneads led 14-9 at the end of the first quarter and then 20-17 at the half. But the Pirates outscored Cottondale 20-12 in the third quarter as Trevin Hall and Dillon Spates each scored 6 points. Leading 40-29 going into the final quarter Sneads went on to a 18 point victory. Hall led Sneads with 15 points, John Whittington added 13 and Spates chipped in 11. Cottondale was led by Jeremie Glover with 15 points.
The boys varsity served as the night capper and this was the usual high intensity Jackson County matchup. But Sneads used a 13-0 run in the final 3 minutes of the first half to take a 40-31 halftime lead. Cottondale made several runs at the Pirates but each time Sneads would catch fire again and kept the Hornets at bay. When the final horn sounded Sneads had racked up a 72-56 win over the visiting Hornets.
Cottondale led 23-15 at the end of the first quarter as Nick Jackson had the hot hand from outside the 3 point line. His 3 three pointers kept the Hornets on top through all of the first quarter and much of the second quarter. But Pirate Allen Patterson continued his hot shooting as the Pirates were able to make a run and pulled to within 4 points with three minutes left in the half. Then John Locke, Jamar White and Terrance Pittman all got hot hands for the Pirates and that is when Sneads ran off 13 unanswered points to close out the half. Locke continued his hot shooting in the second half and Justin Neel got the hot hand as well for the Pirates. Locke and Patterson led the Pirates with 24 points while Neel added 10. Cottondale was led by Jackson with 11 points and Terry Benbow and Marcus Humose with 9 points each.