Green Wave tops Monterey; Natchez wins
Published 12:24 am Monday, December 6, 2010
MONTEREY — Carl Hammitte had a double-double and came up with key steals in the second quarter while Collin Hammons had another productive game for Cathedral Saturday.
And the Green Wave needed every bit of that from the two juniors after the team played a sluggish first quarter against Monterey in the boys’ championship game of the 2010 Monterey High School Tournament.
Hammitte finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds, Hammons scored 14 points and fellow junior Caleb Upton added nine points to lead Cathedral to a 65-61 win over Monterey Saturday afternoon, handing the Wolves their first loss of the season.
“It was a wild game. The first quarter they out scored us by 15 points. The second quarter we out scored them by 15 points. Then it just turned out to be a great high school game. It was a good, hard-fought game,” Green Wave head coach Peter Arnold said.
Monterey went into this game with a 10-0 record and by the way the Wolves dominated the first quarter, it looked like they were well on their way to staying undefeated after jumping out to a 22-7 lead.
But then two things happened that allowed the momentum to switch to Cathedral’s side — the Green Wave switched its defense to shut down Monterey’s perimeter game and Wolves center Josh Chapman committed his third foul early in the second quarter.
“They made four 3-pointers (in the first quarter). We were in a zone. We switched to a man to slow their 3-point shooters. In the second quarter, Chapman got in foul trouble. We were able to take advantage of that. We went to a full-court press and make a few shots and get back in the game,” Arnold said.
Cathedral (4-3) wound up going on a 27-5 run that started late in the first quarter and at one point led by five points late in the first half before Monterey went on a mini run to tie the game at 27-27 at halftime.
And that was mainly in large part to the outstanding inside play of Hammitte, who was a force for the Green Wave and was pivotal in them getting back in the game.
“Carl played by far his best game of the short season. He played strong under the basket. He had 11 rebounds and five steals at the half,” Arnold said. “Collin is always one of our strongest scorers. He played his normal game.”
Then Chapman fouled out early in the third quarter and, as Arnold said, the Green Wave had a golden opportunity to put the game out of reach. But Monterey (10-1) had other ideas.
“We were leading the entire second half, but it was close. I thought we would be able to take advantage of that, but we couldn’t. All their players picked up the slack. All their guards picked it up and they scrapped hard. Luckily, we came out ahead,” Arnold said.
Dillon Smith and Jacob Evans were key in keeping Monterey in the ball game during the second half. Unfortunately, the Wolves were unable to slow down the Green Wave. Cathedral outscored Monterey 20-18 in the third quarter and 18-16 in the fourth quarter.
Smith finished with 16 points while Evans added 15 points and Shawn McLenahan chipped in with nine points.
Cathedral plays at Salem Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. while Monterey plays at Georgetown Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Monterey girls 35, Delhi Charter 32
MONTEREY — Kristen Lipsey scored just three points, but those turned out to be the biggest three points of the game as her 3-pointer as the buzzer allowed the Monterey to defeat Delhi Charter in the girls’ championship game of the 2010 Monterey High School Tournament.
Monterey went into the fourth quarter trailing Delhi Charter 24-23 after being outscored by the Lady Gators 9-6 in the third quarter. But the Lady Wolves responded with a 12-8 advantage in the fourth quarter. And it was Lipsey’s game-winning shot that proved to be the difference.
The Lady Wolves won the game despite not having a single player score in double figures. Ellen Bairnsfather and Rachel Pecanty led the way with nine points apiece. The Lady Gators were led by Whitley Maxwell with 12 points and Dee Dee Killion with nine points.
Monterey (9-1) hits the road to face Georgetown Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Natchez High girls 75, Jefferson County 33
NATCHEZ — Jacquerra Williams scored a game-high 19 points and Ashley Minor had 12 points as the Natchez High Lady Bulldogs remained undefeated after an easy win over their rivals from Jefferson County Saturday night.
Natchez High pretty much had its way with Jefferson County from the opening tip to the final buzzer. The Lady Bulldogs took a commanding 24-8 lead over the Lady Tigers at the end of the first quarter and by halftime were up 41-16.
Rebecca Minor added eight points and Kiana Jones ended up with seven points for Natchez High (8-0), which hosts Terry in Division 6-6A action Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Jefferson County was led by Keiquanae Smith and Taneisha Bailey with seven points each.
Natchez High boys 53, Jefferson County 44
NATCHEZ — Led by Quincy Washington and Jonathan Griffin, the Natchez High Bulldogs finally picked up their second win of the season after defeating the Jefferson County Tigers Saturday night.
Washington ended up leading all scorers with 14 points while Griffin added 10 points and Javon Washington had eight points for Natchez High. The Bulldogs’ defense came up big in the first quarter as they held Jefferson County in check on their way to a 14-5 lead at the end of the quarter.
The rest of the game went back and forth between the two teams, but Jefferson County was not able to get a big rally going to get back in the game. Not even in the second quarter when the Tigers scored 17 points.
The Bulldogs upped their lead to 12 points heading into the fourth quarter thanks to a 14-10 advantage in the third quarter.
Jefferson County was led by Tramell Anderson with 13 points and Richard Myles with eight points.
Natchez High (2-5) hosts Terry in a key Division 6-6A match-up Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Lawrence County girls 85, Wilkinson County 61
WOODVILLE — If it had not been for the unbelievable performance of Lawrence County’s Tiaria Griffin, Wilkinson County may have had a good chance of upsetting the Lady Cougarss
All Griffin did was put a game-high 50 points in leading Lawrence County past the Lady Wildcats Saturday night. But after three quarters of play, the outcome was still not completely decided.
The Lady Cougars led by just one point, 15-14, at the end of the first quarter and by only three points, 37-34, at halftime. Even with an eight-point lead at the end of the third quarter, they couldn’t have felt real comfortable because the Lady Wildcats could have rallied in the fourth quarter.
However, that was not meant to be as Lawrence County outscored Wilkinson County 22-6 in the game’s final eight minutes.
In addition to Griffin’s big night, Mary Margaret McLaurin added 14 points for the Lady Cougars. The Lady Wildcats were led by Breshiana Day with 15 points and L. Brown with 13 points.
Wilkinson County travels to Port Gibson to take on the Lady Blue Waves Tuesday at 6 p.m.