Published: January 07, 2009 01:01 pm      

Stone sweeps games from cross-town rival CCHS

Stone Memorial High School and Cumberland County High School renewed their rivalry Monday night, as the Lady Panther junior varsity and Panther freshmen teams visited the Lady Jets and Jets.

The Lady Panthers won 56-47, while the Panthers won 52-45.

Lady Panthers 56, Lady Jets 47: Tessa Cokkinias tossed in 11 points to lead the Lady Panthers. Rounding out the scoring were Ashley Cox (2), Lauren Mathews (2), Brooke Foster (6), Nicole Hassler (2), Morgan Bridges (8), Riley Kennedy (5), Brooke Kennedy (6), Brooke Salibury (2), Corey Blaylock (8) and Ashley Wheeler (4).

For the Lady Jets, Emily Scarbrough tickled the twine for 27 points, followed by Lorin Smith (4), Erica Lane (4), Jaimie Rector (7) and Lauren Sliger (5). Hannah Deck and Candice Moore also played.

Cokkinias and Foster each had six first-quarter points, as the Lady Panthers took a 15-6 advantage. SMHS was seven of 13 from the field with three turnovers, while CCHS was two of 14 from the floor with eight turnovers.

Scarbrough hit two free throws with 3:47 left in the half to slice the deficit to 17-16, but a putback basket by Salisbury triggered a 9-2 run to swell the lead to 26-18 at the break.

The Lady Jets were three of nine from the floor with six miscues, while SMHS was four of 19 with seven turnovers.

SMHS outscored CCHS 16-13 in the third quarter to swell the lead to 42-31, behind four points apiece by Blaylock and Bridges. Scarbrough had seven markers for the Lady Jets.

CCHS, behind Scabrough's 11 points, outscored SMHS 16-14 in the final quarter to make the final margin 56-47.

SMHS 52, CCHS 47: As SMHS Coach Mike Buck said, "It was a tale of two halves."

Buck's Panthers dominated the first half, taking a 29-6 advantage, but Will Foster's Jets used the late Jim Valvano's "don't give up, never give up" attitude to outscore the Panthers 39-23 in the second half to make the game closer than it really was.

Field goal shooting (one of four) and turnovers (nine) were the Jets' bugaboo in the first quarter, as they fell behind 16-2. SMHS was six of 13 from the floor with one turnover.

Dustin Dishman scored seven points in the first quarter for the Panthers, while Robert Triono had four. Steven Hill had CCHS' only basket.

SMHS outscored CCHS 13-4 in the second quarter to post the 29-6 lead, as Triono had eight markers, including two treys. The Jets were one of 11 from the field and two of six from the charity stripe with three miscues.

Whatever Foster said to his troops at halftime, must have paid off, as his team used an 11-2 third-quarter run to slice the lead to 31-17 with 1:35 left in the stanza. The Jets finished the quarter with 5-4 run to make the score 35-22.

John Bilbrey had eight points for the Jets, who were six of six from the field with three turnovers, while holding the Panthers to three of 15 from the floor with nine turnovers. Todd Threet added four points for CCHS.

Dishman, Jared Beaty and Tyler Ashburn each had a bucket for the Panthers.

CCHS cut the deficit to 37-32 with five minutes left in the game on a layup by Donovan O'Rourke, but a trey by Triono swelled the lead to 40-32.

A three-point play by Threet with 2:04 left sliced the lead to 44-39, but a layup by Triono triggered a 8-6 run to make the final score 52-45.

The Jets were 11 of 19 from the field with eight turnovers in the final quarter, while SMHS was five of 11 from the floor and six of 10 from the free throw line with eight turnovers.

Leading scorers for SMHS were London Smith (2), Jacob Simmons (6), Dishman (15), Triono (23), Beaty (4) and Ashburn (2).

Leading scorers for CCHS were O'Rourke (2), Bilbrey (9), Brandon Hawkins (4), Threet (18), Hill (6) and Ben Gudet (6).