| Devilettes, R’mont boys not shocking as finalists | By: By KENNETH COKER, Messenger Sports Reporter
| Posted: Tuesday, January 25, 2011 5:33 pm
| No surprises here.
As expected, the No. 1 seeds in the Obion County School System Tournament advanced to the championship round with dual triumphs on Monday evening at South Fulton.
In the evening’s opener, the top-seeded SF girls improved to 16-1 on the campaign after their 43-27 semifinal triumph over Lake Road.
Meanwhile, Ridgemont — the boys’ No. 1 seed — coasted to the finale with a 55-28 rout of Black Oak in the semifinal round.
The championship round for this season’s OCSS Tournament is scheduled for Thursday. The girls’ game pitting SF against Ridgemont (8-9) is to tip off at 6 p.m. with the boys’ contest to follow. Lake Road (9-4) battles the Mustangs (11-6) for the boys’ crown.
Both the LR girls and BO boys will return to action in the Area 5 Tournament. Coaches from that district met this morning to finalize a bracket for the tournament, which is to be played at South Fulton.
The following is a roundup of Monday’s games at South Fulton.
GIRLS
SF 43, Lake Rd. 27
Lady General Tia Parks put in the game’s opening bucket, but South Fulton’s Sydney Easterwood res-ponded with a deuce of her own to tie the game at 2-all.
After a barrage of misses and turnovers by both teams, Devilette Melanie Johnson hit a free throw to put her team up for good with 2:27 remaining in the first quarter.
All totaled, South Fulton — which is making its second consecutive appearance in the OCSS title game — ended the first quarter on a 13-0 run and was ahead by a 13-2 margin after six minutes of action.
SF continued its offensive spurt through the first minute of the second period, adding three more points before Lake Road finally got a free throw from Hannah Cavness to break the host team’s 16-0 run.
Sierra Coley topped the scorebook with a game-high 13 points, while Carmen Hutchins was a point shy of a double-double with nine ponts, 10 rebounds and four steals.
Kristin Crocker was also key to SF’s cause with eight points, six steals and four assist, while Maddie Kate Coffey was stuck on the No. 5 with said number of tallies and boards.
Cavness was the lone Lady Generals in double digits with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Parker Albright contributed seven and Anna Logan accounted for six.
BOYS
R’mont 55, BO 28
Black Oak (2-12) had the lead for a minute in the first quarter before Ridgemont’s Jacob Sisk got the hot hand.
The Eagles were up 2-1 after a Lane Baker deuce.
Then, Sisk — who had already hit a free throw — went on a tear, accounting for his team’s next nine points and helping the Mustangs to a 12-5 advantage after a quarter of play.
Altogether, Sisk scored R’mont’s first 10 points.
Sisk continued to set the hoop on fire early in the second period, draining a trifecta on the first possession of the canto and a Kaleb Byars deuce just moments later put the top seed up by 12 (17-5).
The Eagles battled back as Jonah Pittman and Blake Bullion dropped in back-to-back buckets. Pittman also hit a free throw to get BO within seven with 3:27 left in the first half.
From that point on, R’mont outscored the Eagles 14-7 for the rest of the quarter to carry a 31-17 lead into halftime.
Ridgemont slammed the door shut on any hopes the Eagles had of a comeback in the third quarter. In that canto, the Mustangs bested Black Oak 10-2.
Sisk was the high point man with 19 markers — 15 prior to intermission. Nathan King also hit in twin figures for R’mont with 10 points, while Hayden Cary was a point shy with nine tallies.
Additionally, Byars had six points.
The Eagles had Pittman and Baker with six markers apiece. Pittman also brought down eight rebounds, while Baker had four steals. | | | | |
