Ponies
knock Rangers out of tourney chase
Thursday, February 28, 2008
CARTHAGE — A year ago, Panola finished last in Region XIV men's basketball with a 3-19 record. Twenty-eight games into his second season at the school, head coach Jacob Wonders has the Ponies in the postseason.
Panola guard Christopher Jones set up teammates early and scored late, finishing with 22 points and six assists as Panola clinched a conference tournament berth with an 85-78 win over Kilgore at Johnson Gymnasium. The loss knocked Kilgore, which is the host school for the conference tournament March 7-10, from the tournament race.
"I'm real happy for our kids. The last two years we've been picked to finish dead last," Wonders said. "Last year we did, and now that kind of rewards them for the hard work they've put in over the last two years."
Kilgore, which trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half, whittled its deficit to three, 76-73, on a Maurice Foster scoop with 1:28 remaining. Four Panola free throws sandwiched a Ranger turnover to give the Ponies an 80-73 lead with 1:01 left, but Ridge McKeither hit one free throw and scored on a tip with 24.5 seconds left to cut Panola's lead to 80-76.
Panola sealed the game from the line, hitting 5 of 6 in the final 18.1 seconds to clinch the tournament berth.
The seven-point loss was Kilgore's 10th single-digit defeat in Region XIV, including six of five points or less.
"I thought our guys really battled back," Kilgore head coach Scott Schumacher said. "We were down 17 points in the first half, 15 twice. We had it within three with 1:28 to go."
McKeither had 16 points and 16 rebounds, while Omar Thomas added 14 points and six offensive boards. Maurice Foster's 24 points led all scorers after shooting 10-for-18 from the floor.
Kilgore beat Panola 37-23 on the glass, but Panola combatted it with better ball movement, accumulating 19 assists to Kilgore's eight. Papa Oppong hit a big three and scored nine second-half points en route to 14 points and eight boards, and Justin Dennis scored 11 of his 15 in the first half. Elijah Cotton added 12 for Panola.
Second half
Leading 44-40 at halftime, Panola opened a 60-50 lead with 13:13 on a streaking, acrobatic Jones finish in the lane that resulted in a three-point play. Kilgore then staged an 11-5 run to cut Panola's lead to 65-61, but Oppong then hit a triple and Milton Burton lobbed to Aamir McCleary for a layup that extended the Pony lead to 70-61 with 7:26 left.
Oppong assisted a Cotton 16-footer with 3:05 to play, giving Panola a 74-65 advantage, but the fullcourt press helped Kilgore's 8-2 run to draw within three with 1:28 to play.
First half
Panola came out on fire, hitting four threes in the first five minutes as Jones dished out five assists in the first nine minutes to lead Panola to a 31-14 lead with 11:55 remaining. From that point, Kilgore owned the first half, outscoring the Ponies 26-13 and beating Panola 17-11 on the glass.
WOMEN
Panola 74, Kilgore 57
Jasmine Brown and Kim Edmonson sparked Panola's second-half three-point barrage as Panola clinched a spot in the Region XIV Tournament with a 74-57 win over Kilgore.
Panola made 8 of 18 second-half three-point attempts as Brown and Edmonson combined to shoot 7-for-14 from deep in the final 20 minutes. Brown finished with 23 points on 7-for-15 three-point shooting, while Edmonson had 21 points on 5-for-12 long-range shooting with five rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals. Vedrana Milakovic had a strong second half for Panola (20-9, 9-7), finishing with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Denetra Kellum's 19 points and five boards led Kilgore (10-15, 4-13), while Nakazi Glover added 13 points despite 4-for-21 shooting. Sylvia Hoffman led all rebounders with eight off the Lady Ranger bench.
Second half
Leading 35-31, Panola's first four buckets were three-pointers, and the Fillies had virtually put Kilgore away with a 50-35 lead and 13:28 remaining.
First half
Panola hit just 5 of 19 three-point attempts, but those long balls helped the Fillies to leads of 11-4, 25-16 and 30-20. Kilgore closed the half on an 11-5 run to cut Panola's lead to 35-31 at halftime.
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