Chipola Splits in Conference Opener

By Clint Cox

The Chipola Men’s and Women’s basketball squads opened up the 2010 Panhandle Conference season against Gulf Coast this past Saturday night at the Milton H. Johnson Health Center in Marianna. The two squads split their openers as the Lady Indians fell and the men held on for an exciting win over the Commodores.

The Lady Indians hit the floor first and Gulf Coast showed everyone why they are ranked #1 in the nation and state. They jumped out to a early lead and held Chipola scoreless for the first five minutes of the game. Ance Celmina finally got the Lady Indians on the scoreboard with fifteen minutes left in the first half. Gulf Coast held a 23-2 lead at one point in the half and then led 44-15 at the half. Chipola played better in the second half but Gulf Coast went on to a 91-43 win. Ty O’Neal was the only Lady Indian in double figures as she hit 12 points. The Lady Indians fell to 10-7 on the year and 0-1 in conference play.

In men’s action the Indians saw Gulf Coast come out fired up and quickly take a lead. Graceville native Willie Kirkland Jr., now playing for the Commodores helped Gulf Coast keep a lead through the first ten minutes of the half. Chipola finally battled back and tied the game on a 3 pointer by Marvin Fitzgerald. John Taylor gave the Indians their first lead of the game, 24-22, with a basket at the seven minute mark of the first half. Taylor’s 7 first half points help Chipola grab a slim 36-33 at the half.

The Indians came out popping in the second half and went up by 9 points before Gulf Coast began to fire back. The Commodores managed to tie the game at 60-60 with five minutes to play and that is when the Indian’s Lashay Page lit up the boards. Page scored 11 of the Indians 13 points in a 3 ½ minute span. That enabled Chipola to go back up by six twice, but each time Gulf Coast would get back to within 2 points. The Commodores, down 71-69, had one last shot to win or tie the game at the buzzer. But their long 3 point attempt bounced off the rim, much to the relief of the Chipola faithful

Chipola was led by Page with 15 points. Dexter Ellington and Keith DeWitt both added 10 points. Kirkland led Gulf Coast with 21 points. Chipola, ranked #5 in the Nation and #2 in the State, improved to 16-1 overall and 1-0 in the conference play. Both the men and women traveled to Pensacola on Wednesday night for a matchup against the Pirates. Results of that contest were not available at press time.