Published: January 08, 2009 03:59 pm      

Lady Jets handle Stone; Panthers stick CCHS with 10-point loss

The largest crowd of the season turned out Tuesday night to watch the Lady Jets and Jets host the SMHS Lady Panthers and Panthers for the second time this season.

The fans were not disappointed, as they saw the Lady Jets defeat the Lady Panthers 51-32, while the Panthers defeated CCHS 57-47.

Lady Jets 51, SMHS 32: "We played well as a team tonight. We played a lot of players in the first half, which helped us in the second half," said CCHS Coach Josh Epperson, who notched his first win in four games over the Lady Panthers and the Lady Jets' first win over SMHS in six tries.

Added SMHS assistant coach Meghan Kunzelman, "Our defense was pretty good, especially in the first half. Offensively, we fell apart."

CCHS was 15 of 38 from the floor and 17 of 24 from the charity stripe, while SMHS was 11 of 46 from the floor and seven of 19 from the free line. Free throw shooting would be the difference down the stretch.

Mandy Moss led the Lady Jets with 20 points, 11 rebounds and two steals, while Kelli Hyder added 11 markers and six rebounds. Rounding out the scoring were Taylor Williams (8), Missy Bargayo (3), Brandy Green (2), Taylor Vaden (2), Jaclyn Reagan (2) and Emily Scarbrough (3).

Leslie Brown paced the Lady Panthers with 12 points, followed by Destiny Dishman (8), Taylor Smith (5), Kelli Keck (3), Erin Keyes (1) and Kristen Roark (1).

With the score tied at 4-4, Brown converted a lay-up to trigger a 9-0 run to give the Lady Panthers a 13-4 advantage.

A trey by Williams and a putback basket by Moss sliced the deficit to 13-9 by quarter's end.

Brown scored nine of her 12 points in the first stanza. Smith and Dishman each had a bucket for the visitors, who were six of 11 from the field with three turnovers.

Moss had four points for CCHS, who was four of 15 from the field with three turnovers, thanks to the SMHS defense.

Two baskets by Dishman and one by Brown helped the Lady Panthers stretch the lead to 17-12, but another trey by Williams keyed a 12-1 run to give the Lady Jets a 24-20 lead at the break.

CCHS was four of 10 from the floor with seven miscues, while SMHS was three of seven with eight turnovers. SMHS was one of four from the charity stripe.

Kelli Keck opened the third quarter with a trey for the Lady Panthers to slice the lead to 24-23; however, a layup by Hyder sparked a 12-0 run to swell the lead to 34-23 with 1:50 left in the period.

SMHS was four of six from the charity stripe in the last 1:40 of the third quarter to outscore CCHS 4-2, slicing the deficit to 36-27. In this quarter, SMHS was four of eight from the charity stripe and two of 15 from the field, while CCHS was four of eight and four of six from the free throw line.

CCHS outscored SMHS 15-5 in the final quarter for the final margin.

Free throw shooting was the difference in this quarter, as the Lady Jets were eight of 13, while SMHS was one of six.

Panthers 57, Jets 47: "It was a good win. Cumberland County is playing well," said SMHS Coach Mike Buck, whose team improved to 12-4 overall.

Taylor Kiser led the Panthers with 20 points, while Will Ballard added 15 markers.

"Will and Taylor shot the ball very well," added Buck.

Ballard was six of 10 from the floor, including one of three from long range, while Kiser was seven of 11 from the field and six of nine from the free throw line. Alex Kiser added eight points and eight rebounds.

Rounding out the scoring were Mason Fox (1), Dustin Melton (5) and Zack Sherrill (2).

Jeremy Jacobs led the Jets with 12 points, one rebound and one assist, followed by Matt Jones (3), Caleb Parons (9), Matt Johnson (8), Terryl Bowen (2), Andrew Cravens (7) and Joe Blalock (6). Cravens had nine caroms with two assists, and Parsons and Johnson had four boards each.

Free throws were a key in the game, as the Panthers were 18 of 26, while CCHS was six of 11.

CCHS took a 7-4 lead on a Jacobs trey, but back-to-back jumpers by Taylor Kiser keyed a 14-4 run to take an 18-11 advantage by quarter's end. SMHS was seven of 13 from the floor, while CCHS was five of 11.

Taylor Kiser had 11 of his 20 points in the first quarter, while Johnson had four for CCHS.

Cumberland County used a 12-7 run to slice the lead to 25-23 with 1:58 left, sparked by Blalock's four points and treys by Jones and Parsons.

A trey by Ballard helped the Panthers take a 30-23 lead at the break. Ballard had seven points for the Panthers, who were three of 10 from the field and four of six from the charity stripe.

CCHS was five of eight from the field and zero for two from the charity stripe. Blalock had four points for CCHS, while Jones and Parsons each buried a trey.

Three bombs from long range by Jacobs helped the Jets outscore SMHS 15-12 to slice the deficit to 42-38 at the end of the third quarter. Johnson had four points for CCHS, who was six of 12 from the field and zero for two from the charity stripe.

SMHS was five of 12 from the floor. Cameron Fox had five points for the Panthers.

The Panthers were 11 of 17 from the charity stripe in the final stanza to outscore the Jets 15-9. SMHS was also two of seven from the field, while CCHS was two of six from the floor and five of six from the charity stripe. The brothers Kiser, Taylor (seven points) and Alex (five points) led the Panthers down the stretch.

Schedules: The Lady Panthers (9-6) and Panthers (12-4) will host Clarkrange Friday night, before returning to District 4-AA play on Tuesday at Kingston and on Jan. 16 at Anderson County.

The Lady Jets (3-0, 12-4) and Jets (2-1, 5-10) travel to Walker Valley Friday night to face the Lady Mustangs (2-1, 15-2) and Mustangs (3-0, 16-1) in crucial District 5AAA games, before traveling to Clarkrange on Jan. 13 and hosting Cleveland on Jan. 16.