Published: December 07, 2006 04:02 pm            

Indians, Maidens defeat Palestine

Indians, Maidens sweep Palestine games



By Don Wallace

sports@jacksonvilleprogress.com

It was just like old times, Jacksonville and Palestine teams going to toe-to-toe, eye-to-eye on the hardwood court.

This time it wasn’t a district matchup, just a good old fashioned grudge match. Jacksonville teams swept all games played in packed gym Tuesday night.

Tempers did not flare between the heated rivals, but they almost did. But that’s all part of the history between the two schools.

The Jacksonville Maidens overcame an earlier deficit to win 54-33 while the Indians won 71-57 with a second half rally in varsity boys action.

The homestanding Jacksonville teams also won all sub-varsity games.

Maidens 54, Lady Wildcats 33

“Jacksonville and Palestine is still a rivalry, mainly due to the close proximity of the towns and the level of play of the athletic teams,” Maiden head coach Tony Harris said. “Palestine has been successful, so that brings out the best in us. To measure how well we are doing, we have to play teams like Palestine in order to get ready for district.”

Three Maidens gots 10 points or more in the win for Jacksonville. Tiandra Smith topped the group with 14 while Sarah Brand had a dozen, including several key 3-poiniters and Amber Tilley chipped in 10 points.

Palestine took an 8-6 lead at the end of the opening quarter. Jacksonville hit their stride and starting playing smarter basketball in the second frame.

Brand had a hot streak scoring back-to-back buckets halfway through the second period as the Maidens slipped ahead 12-9. Smith had a defensive block which turned into points on the other end of the court.

Palestine edged back close at 12-11 with 2:52 left before Brand popped the net on an outside jumper to give the Maidens a 14-11 lead. Maiden post player Victoria Abu had to go to the bench with her third foul of the half.

The Lady Wildcats got points from Tajan Snowden on the inside as the Palestine team made scoring using their height advantage with Abu on the bench. Palestine went up 15-14 with less than a minute left in the second period.

The Maidens worked for the last shot and made the most of it. Brand canned a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Jacksonville a 17-15 lead at intermission.

In the third period the Maidens did see Abu pick up her fourth foul, but they also played well and scored from all over the court. Brand hit an outside while while Smith tossed in an easy bucket inside on an in-bounds play. Brand then connected with Tilley on a perfect fast break bounce pass for a layup and Palestine had to call time out trailing 25-16 at the 5:36 mark. The Maidens had the at 12 points as their 10-2 scoring burst continued. Taking a 29-17 lead, the Maidens went back to the press to further hammer the Lady Wildcats attack. Palestine was able to shave the lead down to 10 points, 33-23 as action moved to the final frame.

Smith continued to score for the Maidens, first she turned a steal into a layup and then she connected on two free throws. Brand stepped up and ripped the twine with a 3-pointer as Jacksonville went up 40-25 with just six minutes left.

Abu came in and played well picking up five points late, despite being in foul trouble. Brand connected with Tilley again on another fast break bucket. The Maidens went on to win by the final of 54-33.

Katelyn Snider had 18 and Snowden tossed in 11 for Palestine.

Maiden scorers not already listed, included: Kristina Martinez 4, Ashley McAnally 2, Jackie Cartwright 6, Abu 5 and Brittany King 1 point.

Harris said, “Palestine has a solid team, plus they have good height. Not just tall girls, but big players who take up space. We were able to hit some perimeter shots and that opened up things for us. I was very pleased with the effort on defense. We were also able to score in the low post some, despite foul troubles we had.”

Jacksonville took a 31-26 win over Palestine in junior varsity girls competition. Scorers included: Alayna Chavira 8, Kiki Burrell 10, Christina Duran 1, Jasmin Clark 4, Shetiqua Sessions 2, Amanda Stewart 2 and Bridgette Smalley 4.

No freshman girls game was placed.

Indians 71, Wildcats 57

Jacksonville out-scored the visiting Wildcats 47 to 28 in the final two periods to claim a 71-57 win in non-district play.

The Indians had three players in double figures. Joseph Whitaker led the way with 20, while Jimenez had 19, 14 of those points coming in the second half. Jeremy Chappelle tossed in 11 points.

“I think defense and rebound won it for us,” Jacksonville head basketball coach Roynal Bridgeforth. “We had some key buckets. .Jimenez caught fire in the second half with his shooting. Then we made free throws down the stretch and that put it away.”

Palestine had bult a 29-25 lead at the end of the first two quarters. Jacksonville proved they were serious about a comeback when Whitaker canned a 3-pointer.

But the Wildcats got points from Greg Anderson on a soft jumper andKevin Birdow turned a rebound into a putback bucket as Palestine went ahead 35-28 halfway through the third period.

Jimenez then found his shooting touch and connected on three 3-pointers in a two minute span. The long range bomb combined with points from Chris Williams and Whitaker allowed Jacksonville to jump ahead 44-41. Whitaker and Williams added late buckets and the third quarter ended with Jacksonville holding a 48-43 lead. In the frame the Indians had a 12-0 scoring burst which allowed them to rally for the lead.

In the final period, Jacksonville took control not only of the scoreboard but the partisan crowd. Kiara Cook scored on a fast break layup, then Chappelle scored on the inside as Jimenez tossed in another 3-pointer. The Indians were up 59-49 with 4:43 left on the game clock. A steal and a slam by Whitaker got the Jacksonville fans to their feet and seemed to be a knockout punch to Palestine.

In the final three minutes Jacksonville out-scored Palestine 10-5 to put the game away. The Indians won by the final of 71-57.

In the early going, Palestine jumped ahead early. Jacksonville trailed 15-5 at the end of the first quarter. The second period saw the Indians get points from Chappelle and Whitaker. The Indians still trailed 29-25 at the half. The second half was dominated by the Indians as they went on to the 71-57 win.

Other scorers for Jacksonville were: Corey Oliver 3, Williams 6, Bennie Scott 5, Cook 6, DeMarcus Session 3.

Anderson led Palestine with 17 points while Amare Skinner tossed in 10.

In the junior varsity game, Jacksonville scored a 77-45 victory. Scorers were: Terence Canady 8, Kelvin Hall 14, Zavier Jones 3, Cody Broussard 8, Michael Hatton 9, Antwone Johnson 6, Dwindle Hamilton 2, Don Mosely 8, Eric Taylor 11, Jermaine Hawkins 2 and Tanner Goodman 7.

Jacksonville’s freshmen boys rolled to a 56-42 win. Scorers were; Christian Carron 9, Lawrence Lyons 6, Lavonte Franklin 5, Da’Rel Hamilton 8, Derrick Session 5, Trey Fernandez 12 and Davote Hinton 11 points.

The JV and freshmen will be in the Athens tournament.

The next game for the varsity will be against Hughes Springs in the Carthage tournament.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.