Stone takes three wins at Knox Catholic

By Jim Butler / Chronicle contributor

January 06, 2009 12:12 pm

— The Panther teams took to the road Saturday night and came away with three victories in a tough playing environment.
The evening began with the Panther boys JV overcoming a six-point deficit in the fourth quarter to claim a 51-49 win an a very physical contest. The Panthers went ahead on a David Keyes layup with 14 seconds remaining and the defense held Catholic scoreless from there.
Keyes led the Panther scoring with 20 points and Jacob Butler added 13 for the winners. Other scorers were Robert Troino with eight, Dustin Dishman and Tevis Barnes four each and Trey Priestwood scored one.
SMHS 54, Knox Catholic 48: the Lady Panthers led throughout and let a big lead slip away, but still took a 54-48 win.
Stone assistant Megan Kunzelman said, "I thought this was our best team effort in the last few games and we did well with our run and gun offense."
Jenna Mire of the Lady Irish scored 29 points in the contest and Coach Kunzelman commented, "Kelli Keck did an excellent job on Mire in the fourth quarter, holding her to just four points. Destiny Dishman and Taylor Smith both had several blocked shots for us and that was another key to the win." The coach added, "We went to our big lineup and that worked well for us."
Dishman and Leslie Brown led the Stone scoring with 15 points each and Taylor Smith tossed in 10.
Kristen Roark contributed eight with Keck, Erin Keyes and Kayla Daniell each scoring two.
SMHS 58, Knox Catholic 47: The varsity boys game was another very physical contest that the Panthers won by a 58-47 score.
Coach Mike Buck said, "This game was really physical and the tournament in Kentucky helped to prepare us for that type game. Our defense played really well and our guys have rededicated themselves in that area."
Buck added, "We had eight scorers for a total of 58 points and I'm pleased with that balance. We're still looking for more consistency on offense though. This was our first ever win at Catholic though the previous contests have been close ones."
Taylor Kiser and brother Alex led the Panther scoring with 12 and 11 points respectively with Dustin Melton also getting into double figures with 10.
Other scorers were Will Ballard with nine, David Keyes seven, Dustin Dishman four, Cameron Fox three and Mason Fox two.
Stone will now travel across town on Tuesday evening to take on the CCHS Jets with action set to start at six. SMHS will host Clarkrange Friday, starting at 6 p.m.