Cartersville, GA (Sun. Feb. 18, 2007) - Defense has become a theme of late for the Summer Hill Blue Devils, holding opponents to meager pickings early in ball games, building leads, then maintaining. Sunday's home game against Sound Doctrine Christian Academy was much the same, as Sound Doctrine had trouble finding seems to get open shots in the lane and their perimeter shots were not falling for much of the opening half. The Devils took advantage, jumping out to an early 7-0 lead, then methodically worked out to a 41-19 lead with 4:30 left in the first half. Offensively, Mike Linley was the fuel, hitting three treys and scoring 11 points in the first seven minutes of the game. But, Cameron Hall hit a three for SDCA, then followed with another 14-foot jumper, to ignite a 17-4 run. SDCA Head Coach, Vacher Hammett employed a full-court press that caused the Devils to falter on three consecutive possessions. Johnny Stephenne was fouled, hitting both freethrows and Hall and Brandon Lenard both got wide open lay-ins after Blue Devil turnovers and Sound Doctrine had turned the momentum and gotten back into the game. Though the Devils still had a 45-36 lead at the half, work had to be done in the locker room. Summer Hill came back out with a vengeance, rebuilding a twenty point lead behind the same tough team defense that helped set the tone early in the game. Mike Linley scored seven more points, while Chris Morgan (6'0''-G-84, college: Wallace St. CC) and Chris Jones (6'6''-F-82) both scored four points as the Devils stretched its lead out to 78-53. Demarcus James late bucket in the lane gave the Devils its largest lead at 99-66, before Lenard and Richard Lester tallied the final five points for SDCA. Lenard paced Sound Doctrine with 17 points, while Hall finished with 16 points, five rebounds and three steals. Stephenne scored 12 points, as DeTerrence Norwood got nine, Stacey McAlister eight, Shane Burrell four, Malik Edwards and Lester 2 each and Marcellus Miller one. For Summer Hill, Linley led the way with 20 points on 8-10 shooting and four assists. Chris Jones had 16 points and eight rebounds, Jeff Croft 15 points, including 4-6 from behind the arc, while Chris Morgan had another all-round performance with 13 points, five assists, four rebounds and 2 steals. Michael Reynolds (6'3''-G-84) got 11 points and three steals, and Marcus Henderson (6'8''-F-79) of Cartersville Baseline had 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. Rounding out the scoring for Summer Hill, were Demarcus James with six, DeMarlow Simmons four and Dee Henderson two. The Devils moved to 25-5 on the year and move on to face on Tuesday evening, a very good Trinity Ballers team, who stand at 5-1 in City League play. Notes: The Devils are still in the process of trying to land the Southern Regional tournament and are waiting word on the "go-ahead" from several top programs in the Southeastern area. The Devils 49.2% from the field on 33-67 shooting. Summer Hill made 33 baskets to SDCA's 27, but the big difference was the Devil's aggressivenes to the basket allowed 34 attempts at the charity stripe. The Devils made 25-34, good for 74%. SDCA was 10-11 from the freethrow line as a team. -------------------------------------------------- Baseline gets by Marietta Outlaw, 80-69... Cartersville, GA (Sun. Feb. 18, 2007) - Rod Ashmore (6'5''-F/G-79) of Cartersville Baseline scored a game-high 26 points, leading the Baseline Warriors past the Marietta Outlaw 80-69 on Sunday evening at JH Morgan Gym. Baseline took the season series 4-0 against the Oultaw (non-plural). Craig Looney scored the 13 of Marietta's first 16 points points, holding a 16-11 lead mid-way through a defensive-minded first half. The Warriors, playing with out guard Joe Montgomery and small forward Chris Jones, were struggling to find any offensive cohesiveness. But, Ashmore stepped up, got hot, scoring seven straight points including a long three from the top of the key to vault Baseline line into the lead at 18-16 with 8:55 left in the half. It would prove to be the last time the Warriors would trail. Baseline took a 34-25 lead into the break. In the second half, the scoring picked up, but Marietta could not get any closer than six, despite five combined three pointers from Isaac Cook, Larry Knotts (6'6''-F/G-75, college: Columbia) and Derrick Owen. Ashmore continued his scoring ways, hitting three treys and Joe Hamilton (6'6''-F-79, college: Virginia Tech) got going with several dribble-drives. Marietta's Maurice Rhodes kept things with in striking distance for the Outlaw as he contributed eight clutch points in the second half. The biggest difference in the second half for Baseline turned out to be the infusion of offense in the paint by Bobby Rouse, who scored 10 points down the stretch, all in around the lane. Looney paced Marietta with 19 points, while Rhodes finished with 17, Knott 16 and Cook nine. Owen, who averaged 29.5 in the first two meetings between the two teams, was held to only five points and has seen his offensive opportunities dive dramatically the last two contests. For Baseline, Hamilton supported Ashmores antics with 17, while Antonio Cook (6'6''-G/F-80) of Cartersville Baseline had 16 and Rouse 10. Orlando Rivera and Bill Swain each netted five and Jay Hall contributed one, as the Warriors improved to 19-3 on the season, and 27-5 overall. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
