Chipola Begins Conference Play on Saturday

By Clint Cox

The Chipola Men’s and Women’s basketball squads will get down to the real business starting this Saturday when they open up play in the always tough Panhandle Conference. Gulf Coast comes to the Milton H. Johnson Health Center in Marianna on Saturday with the ladies tipping off at 5:30 pm and the men following at 7:30 pm

The Lady Indians got back to action after the Christmas break with a 88-78 win over Central Florida in Ocala this past Saturday night. Chipola held a 9 point lead at the half but Central Florida rallied to take a 5 point lead in the second half. Lindsey Carr reeled off 8 straight points and Ty O’Neal hit a big 3 pointer as the Lady Indians fought back to reclaim the lead. Down the stretch Chipola hit some key free throws to seal the victory. Bianca Jarrett led the way with 24 points and Carr followed with 17. Also in double figures was Malesha Petterson with 12 points and Kendra Powell with 10.

With that win Chipola, ranked #8 in the Sate, improved to 10-6 on the season. They open up in tough fashion as Gulf Coast is ranked #1 in the Nation and State. The Lady Commodores enter the contest 14-0. The other Panhandle Conference squads are nationally ranked as well including Northwest Florida State (#5, 13-0) Pensacola (#8, 15-1) and Tallahassee (#11, 12-2).

On the men’s side of the street the Indians came back after the Christmas break by going 4-0 in four straight days last week. Last Wednesday they traveled to Pensacola to take part in the Collegiate Sports Shootout and beat USC-Salkehatchie 80-70. They followed that up with a 76-62 win over Albany Tech 76-62 on Thursday night. On Monday and Tuesday they were in Panama City and picked up a 80-51 win over Georgia Perimeter and a 96-76 win over Northwest Mississippi. Those four wins improved the Indians record to 15-1.

Chipola, ranked #5 in the Nation and #2 in the State, will open up against a Gulf Coast team that is 13-4. Like the ladies, the men’s conference looks again to be very strong. Northwest Florida State is currently 15-1 (#1 in the State and #10 in the Nation), Tallahassee is 14-2 (#3 in the State and #22 in the Nation). Pensacola is 10-7 and unranked.