Chipola Takes Two in Conference Opener 1/8/09

By Clint Cox
MARIANNA – The Chipola Men’s and Women’s basketball squads opened up the 2008-09 Panhandle Conference season with a sweep of the visiting Eagles of Tallahassee Community College last Saturday night at the Milton H. Johnson Health Center.
The Chipola Lady Indians, ranked #2 in the state and #8 in the nation, posted a 51-38 win over Tallahassee. Head Coach David Lane acknowledged that the win was very pretty, but was glad to open up conference play with a win. "We struggled offensively. We just never seem to be able to get any offensive rhythm going. But I thought we played well defensively and anytime you can get a conference win you’ll take it," said Lane. The Lady Indians shot just 23% from the field in the first half and held a slim 22-19 lead at the half. Their second half performance offensively was only little better as they finished the night shooting 28% from the field. Tallahassee managed to tie the game at 27-27 before Billingslea broke the tie with a 3 pointer. That sparked a 10-2 run by the Lady Indians and pushed their lead to 45-32.
Carolyn Mills came off the bench in the first half to provide some offensive spark and with 5 straight points gave the Lady Indians the lead. Ashlie Billingslea provided some offensive spark in the second half with 7 of her 9 points on the night. Latoya Williams was held scoreless much of the first half but came back to finish the night with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Other leading scorers for the Lady Indians were Sequoyah Griffin and Lenita Sanford, with each chipping in 8 points. With the win the Lady Indians improved to 1-0 in conference play and 16-2 overall.
The Chipola Indians, ranked #1 in the state and #1 in the nation, racked up a 75-48 win over the Eagles. Somewhat like the ladies, the men got off to a slow start offensively. But late in the first half they scored 9 unanswered points to take a 31-20 half time lead. They carried that momentum into the second half, outscoring the Eagles 45-28 to pull away from the visitors. Casey Mitchell’s 3 pointer four minutes into the second half capped an 8-0 run that propelled the Indians to a 20 point lead. From there they never looked back and went on to post the 27 point victory.
"I thought we got very poor play from our guards in the first half," said Head Coach Greg Heiar. "I challenged the squad at the half to come out and take control of the game. I feel like they did and I am proud of how they responded," commented Heiar. Tallahassee made one late run at the Indians, cutting the lead to 16. But Chipola responded with 13 unanswered points to squash the Eagles attempt at a rally.
Mitchell led the Indians with 21 points while Jeremy Jacob followed with 17 and Josh Sain added 11. The men’s squad improved to 1-0 in conference play and 17-1 overall. They have now won 16 straight ball games since an early season loss.
Both the women’s and men’s squads will be back in action this weekend when they travel to Niceville to take on Northwest Florida State College (formerly known as Okaloosa Walton College).