Summer League Basketball Wraps Up Pirates End On a Winning Note

The final two nights of the Boys Summer Basketball League at Marianna High School took place on Monday and Tuesday night. On Monday night the Marianna Bulldogs picked up a couple of impressive wins, first knocking off a fine Chipley squad by a score of 55-50. The Bulldogs followed that up with a win over rival Malone with a 45-36 win. Kendall Leeks had a hot night, hitting 19 points, which included making five three point shots.

On Tuesday afternoon several junior varsity squads got into the action. Marianna’s JV Bulldogs had a fine showing, winning a couple of games. Marianna edged the Sneads JV squad 35-34 and then hammered the JV Tiger Sharks from Port St. Joe 52-14. Warren McCord and Amp Speights both were noted as playing well for Marianna. The JV Pirates fought hard in their second contest but fell 52-46 to the Tiger Sharks.

In the evening’s action the Sneads varsity squad began play but fell to Port St. Joe 42-29. The Pirates bounced back though with a hard fought win over Bay in game two. The Tornados jumped out to an early 15-8 lead. John Whittington and Jeff Bell keep the Pirates close through the remainder of the first half but a Tornado three pointer at the buzzer gave Bay a 26-16 halftime lead. In second half action Bay keep the Pirates at bay for the first eight minutes. But Sneads became to make a run midway through the second half as Josh Rogers and Bell did most of the scoring. A basket by Blake Edenfield cut the Tornado lead down to 36-31 with ten minutes to play. Bell got the Pirates to within four points with a basket one minute later. Jalon Daniels gave the Pirates some spark with a rebound and put back to keep it at a four point game with six minutes to play. Bell then tied up the game with five minutes to play with a hard driving layup. Rogers kept the game tied, 42-42, with 2 ½ minutes to play. But Bay reeled off five unanswered points and appeared to be pulling away from the Pirates with less than two minutes to play. Daniels and Bell made four free throws count and Sneads pulled to within one point with thirty seconds to go. After a couple of Bay free throws the Pirates trailed by three when Daniels came up with a steal and assist to Bell. Daniels then hit the go ahead basket with two seconds left to give Sneads a thrilling 50-49 win.