Harvey Simpson
Cordele Dispatch
Pinehurst —
Crisp Academy’s girls and Fullington Academy’s boys easily lived up to the favorite’s roles they held going into a Tuesday between the arch-rivals and did so by almost identical scores.
Coach Gina Mitchell’s visiting Lady Wildcats bettered their record to 17-2 overall, 3-0 in Region 3-A GISA play by posting a 51-25 victory over coach Mike Cason’s now 3-9, 1-3 Lady Trojans.
Coach Van Bailey’s Trojans upped their report card to 7-5, 4-0 as the result of their 51-29 triumph over coach Jodie Hays’ Wildcats who via their loss dipped to 4-9 in all games, 1-2 in league play.
Teams from both schools will be back in action this evening at 6:30 p.m. when Crisp hosts Tiftarea and Fullington entertains Terrell. They’ll also play on Friday when Crisp welcomes Grace Christian and Fullington travels to Georgia Christian.
Crisp 51, Fullington 25
Stingy defense and a balanced offensive attack enabled the Lady Wildcats to run away from the Lady Trojans who found themselves staring at rest-break deficits of 11-5, 29-11 and 39-16 before losing the final period 12-9.
“Defense was the big key for us,” said Mitchell who saw her team’s man-for-man tactics limit its foe to a single-digit points total in each quarter of play. “I thought we did especially OK in that department in the first half but gave up more points than I would have liked in the final period.
“Everybody played and did well as eight of the girls broke into the scoring column which is something always nice to see. I always tell the girls we need to take every game like it’s for the state championship and that they should play hard and smart. Thus far, they’ve done that.”
Mitchell also had praise for the Lady Trojans, noting “They’re a young, scrappy up-and-coming team that battled us all the way and is only going to get better.”
Fullington’s Cason, meanwhile, said he thought his team “did a pretty good job defensively with the 1-3-1 zone we played the entire time, but really struggled to score (making just 9 of 36 field goal attempts).
“A major reason for that was their defense plus they shot well (making 21 of 53 tries) and killed us on the boards (46-13) with a lot of their rebounds leading to putbacks for easy baskets.
“It’s obvious they have a very good team that’s good enough to win it all again. I wish them the best as they seek their three-peat.”
Each team had a lone double-digit points producer. For Crisp which is now working on an eight-game winning streak, it was Madi Mitchell with 21. For Fullington, which has now dropped three in a row, it was Darrian Bailey with 16.
Score by Quarters
Crisp Academy 11-18-10-12 — 51
Fullington Academy 5-6-5-9 — 25
Scoring
Crisp Academy (51) — Sydney Folsom 8, Parker Krause 2, Kayla Childers 4, Kara White 2, Maddie Krause 2, Kendall Wilson 6, Emily Faircloth, Jay Jay Yawn 5, Bree Carpenter, Madi Mitchell 21, Morgan Wells.
Team totals: field goals 21; free throws 9 of 14 64.3%); fouls 13; 3-pointers — none; fouled out — none.
Fullington (25) — Darrian Bailey 16, Hannah Clements, Kallie Kimbrough, Meredith McGlamory, Lena van Assendelft 2, Wellsley Martin, Rachel McCleskey 5, Leah Thompson, Madison Warbington 2, Lex van Assendelft, Alyssa Edwards.
Team totals: field goals 9; free throws 4 of 13 (30.8%); fouls 12; 3-pointers — Bailey 2, McCleskey 1; fouled out — none.
Trojans 51, Wildcats 29
It didn’t take long for the Trojans to show the Wildcats this wasn’t going to be their night. By the end of the first quarter, Fullington was not only up by 19 points but also had held Crisp scoreless with what Bailey labeled “superb defense.”
The home team’s domination continued in the second stanza when it outscored its guests 14-6 while upping its lead at intermission to a whopping 27 points at 33-6.
Crisp did manage to slightly cut into its deficit in the third period which it won 17-12 to make it 45-23 before reserves for both teams battled to an 6-6 draw in the final canto.
“We easily played our best defensive game of the season as the guys really got after it out of a full-court press and when we backed up into a zone trap,” said Bailey. “In contesting their shots as well as we did, we limited their second chances and that helped hold down their scoring.
“Our shots were also falling well for us early on when we took advantage of the good looks we were getting at the baskets. Overall, it was pretty much a case of where things went our way. Crisp is an excellent team, though, so we know we’re going to be in for a challenge the next time or two we see them this season.”
Hays, meanwhile, said the outcome was indicative of what happens when everything goes right for one team (Fullington, which has now won four in a row) and wrong for the other (Crisp).
“While they played extremely well, we did just the opposite as they played with a lot more heart and desire than our guys did.
“To start with, we weren’t ready to guard them as the result of missed assignments. The fact we had little effort in the first half when we made a lot of poor decisions. Our bad passes didn’t help either. Neither did all the shots we missed from the floor and the free throw line.
“We did at least come out and play a good third quarter against them, but when you start out in a 19-0 hole it’s hard to fight back, especially against a team as good as Fullington’s.”
Only one player — the Trojans’ Levi McKinney — reached double digits in points. His 13 topped a list of 10 players to break into the scoring column for the winners. Jordan Howard, Jeff McKinney and Hunter Chambers had six points each for the Wildcats.
Score by Quarters
Crisp Academy 0-6-17-6 — 29
Fullington 19-14-12-6 — 51
Scoring
Crisp Academy (29) — Jordan Howard 6, Hunter Chambers 6, Cullen Brooks 45, Banks Folsom 5, Jeff McKinney 6, Chip Posey 2, Jake Smith, Drew Flanders, Chris McGee, Lindsey Youngblood.
Team totals: field goals 11; free throws 7 of 24 (29.2%); fouls 18; 3-pointers — none; fouled out — Chambers, Smith.
Fullington (51) — Levi McKinney 9, Dane Bailey 1, Paul Dossett 2, Ty Tyndal 4, Jim Hartin 3, Braden Shealy 8, Mark McCleskey 13, Jordan Harris 4, Daniel Cape 3, David Roney 4, Austin McIntyre, Gavin Reed, Forrest Ager, Andrew Mitcham, Adam Roney, Butler Clements, Logan Priest, Cole Thompson
Team totals: field goals 17; free throws 11 of 18 (61.1%); fouls 19; 3-pointers — McCleskey 4, Hartin 1, McKinney 1; fouled out — none.
