Subway Classic A Hit With Fans

Area high school basketball fans were treated to some excellent basketball this past Saturday night at the Milton H. Johnson Health Center. Chipola College hosted the First Annual Subway Panhandle High School Classic for boy’s varsity basketball squads from North Florida, South Alabama and South Georgia. Two Jackson County squads represented the home county and fared well.

The Malone Tigers took on Rutherford to tip off the Classic and set the high water mark for games to come. Fans were treated to more than two hours of hoops and a triple overtime 92-88 win by the Tigers over the Rams. It was a win by attrition for Malone as three Tigers fouled out during the game. But that gave an opportunity for some younger players to step up and step up they did. Ladarius McElroy finished the night with 19 points and Marcus Leonard was close behind with 18 points. Both hit shot after shot down the stretch to keep the Tigers in the game and eventually give them the win. Tiger gunner T.J. Smith though was his usual offensive juggarnault as he burned the nets for 31 points.

Malone trailed most of the game but stayed close down to the buzzer. At the end of regulation the game was tied at 65-65. Starter Maciel Clemmons had fouled out in the fourth quarter and Smith joined him on the bench with five fouls in the first overtime. But Malone didn’t fade away and were tied 70-70 at the end of the first overtime. In the second overtime Malone had chances to salt a win away but missed free throws kept the Rams close. The Rams took a late lead but McElroy’s three pointer with 25 seconds tied the game up at 79-79 and sent the game into the third overtime. Leonard led off the third OT with a 3 pointer and Ty Baker hit four crucial free throws to give Malone a 86-81 lead. The Rams got back within two points but Leonard sealed the game in the final seconds. After missing a free throw he grabbed the rebound and slammed home a crowd pleasing dunk to give Malone a four point lead with 15 seconds remaining.

The county’s other representative, the Cottondale Hornets, battled hard in game two against Godby but came up four points short in a 58-54 loss. Cottondale took an early lead on the shooting of Marcus Humose but the Cougars turned up the defensive pressure to slow down the Hornets. On the offensive end Godby heated up late in the quarter to take a 11-10 lead into quarter number two. Humose and Drew Bellamy keep the Hornets close and tied the game at 14-14. But the Cougars went on a run and outscored the Hornets 10-2 over the next four minutes to lead 24-16 with a minute remaining in the half. Cottondale kept fighting and Dominique Webb’s 3 pointer at the buzzer sent the Hornets to the locker rooms trailing 28-21 at the half.

The Hornets came out in the second half and quickly cut the Cougar lead to 3 points. Bellamy made it a one point game at 28-27 but the Cougars went back to the full court pressure and pulled away again. Godby took a 37-30 lead with two minutes to play in the third quarter and led 41-34 going into the final quarter. Humose started the fourth quarter by making four free throws to cut the Cougar lead back to 3 points. Cody Saye’s lay up put the Hornets within one point at 41-40 with just over six minutes to play. Godby pulled back out to a six point lead before Juwon Johnson’s basket and free throw cut it back to a three point game. Two free throws by Humose cut it back to 2 at 47-45 with 3 minutes to play. But like the rest of the night for the Hornets, each time they got close Godby pulled away. In the final three minutes of the game Godby pushed their lead up to 8 points but the Hornets fought back to within 3 points with 13 seconds left. But that was as close as they could get as Godby hung on for the win. Humose led the Hornets with 24 points on the night.