Chipola Takes Third At Nationals

By Clint Cox

The Chipola Indians and Lady Indians basketball squads represented Jackson County and the State of Florida in fine fashion this past week in Kansas as both squads finished third in their respective National Basketball Tournaments.
The Chipola Lady Indians traveled to Salina, Kansas and posted an opening round 86-47 win over Sheridan College. Latoya Williams led the way with 22 points while Lenita Sanford followed with 16 and Marnesha Hall added 12. They followed that up with a second round win on Thursday over Walters State. The Lady Indians trailed 27-22 at the half but then went on to post a 66-53 win as Williams led the squad with 25 points. Sanford and Ashlie Billingslea each added 12 points. That advanced the ladies to the Semi-finals on Friday where they took on Jefferson College. The Lady Indians got off to a slow start and never recovered, trailing 49-34 at the half and falling 78-59. Williams hit 19 on the game and Hall added 10. Saturday’s matchup was against Kaskaskia College and Chipola pulled off a 81-74 victory to finish third in the tournament. Hall led the Lady Indians with 23 points and Williams added 12. The Lady Indians finished the season with a record of 30-6 under Head Coach David Lane.
The Chipola Indians traveled to Hutchinson, Kansas as the #1 team in the nation and likewise advanced all the way to the Semi-Finals, starting with an opening round 81-70 win over Southwest Tennessee. On Wednesday they square off against Lamar CC and led 33-22 at the half. They outscored Lamar 49-34 in the second half to post a 82-66 second round win. Casey Mitchell led the way with 19 points while Jeremy Jacobs and Malcolm Armstead hit 13 each and Gary Flowers and Justin Brownlee hit 11 apiece. The Indians had Thursday off as they advanced to Friday’s Semi-finals against Salt Lake CC. Chipola initially fell behind but rallied to take a 36-33 lead at the half. The second half was a close battle with the lead changing back and forth. In the final minutes however Chipola went cold from the field and Salt Lake pulled out a 78-73 victory over the Indians. The loss overshadowed a stellar performance from Casey Mitchell who hit 38 points on the evening. Torye Pelham added 16 in the loss, the Indians first loss in 32 games. A consolation game with Connors State was on hand for Saturday and the Indians held a close 44-40 lead at half. The second half was all Chipola though as they racked up 58 points to pull away for a 102-70 victory and claim third place. The Indians finish the season with a record of 34-2 under Head Coach Greg Heiar.