Summer Hill bows to Wallace State 87-62...

Devils dig hole early, struggle against strong Wallace State squad...

 

Hanceville, AL - Summer Hill fell behind early against Wallace State on the road and could never rebound, losing 87-62 Saturday afternoon.

 

Wallace State jumped out to a 9-2 in the early-going, and later built leads of 20-4 and 31-9. Summer Hill struggled to find open looks at the basket in the face of a swarming Lion defense. The Devils worked their deficit down to 38-24 with 1:50 left in the first half, but the Lions closed on a quick 11-0 run to take a 49-24 lead into the intermission. The Lions shot a blistering 63% from the field, including 6-11 from the 3-point line, while holding the Devils to only 9-28 shooting from the field in the first half.

 

Summer Hill came out strong to begin the second half with three from DeMarlowe Simmons, followed by consecutive steals and buckets by Jay Nelson and Simmons. The Devils would open the half on a 12-2 run, cutting the Lion lead down to 51-35, with 15:30 to go. Wallace called timeout, re-grouped and promptly put any comeback notions by the Devils to rest by reeling off a resounding 22-3 stretch. Wallace eventually built a 31-point cushion, as the Devils seemed to give in.

 

Though down big, Summer Hill continued to work hard, with reserves Derrick Sams, Brandon Harris and Jerold Wells coming in to provide some defensive intensity. The trio's efforts allowed the Devils to play evenly down the stretch, trimming the Lion lead to 84-62 in the final minutes. Wallace went into spread offense to run out the clock and the Devils could get no more points on the board.

 

Simmons led Summer Hill (1-2) with 12 points, while Brandon Harris got 11, Scott Windom eight, Sams and Nelson seven each. Marcus Henderson, who came in averaging 19.5 ppg, managed only two points on 1-9 shooting from the field

 

Summer Hill will now prepare for back-to-back home dates this weekend. Truett-McConnell will come to town Saturday for a double-header, with the women starting at 5:30pm and the men at 7:30pm. On Sunday, Oxford College will visit the Blue Devil men at 4:30pm, with the Baseline Warriors playing a pre-liminary game at 2:30pm. Games will be played at JH Morgan Gym on Aubrey Street in Cartersville.

 

Box Score:

Summer Hill....   24-38--62

Wallace St.....    49-38--87

 

(SH) DeMarlowe Simmons 5-9 0-0 12, Derrick Sams 3-5 0-2 7, Jay Nelson 3-10 0-0 7, Jerold Wells 1-2 0-0 3, Marcus Henderson 1-9 0-0 2, Brandon Harris 5-8 1-2 11, Terry Albert 2-5 2-3 6, Chris Hill 2-7 1-2 6, Scott Windom 4-8 0-1 8... Team... 26-63 4-10 62

3pt: Simmons 2, Sams, Nelson, Wells, Hill; Rebs: Henderson 6, Windom 6; O-reb: Windom 4; Steals: Harris 2, Nelson 2; TO: Simmons 3, Albert 3; Assists: Sams 2.

 

(WS) Xavier Keeling 3-5 2-2 8, Jeff Smith 1-3 2-4 4, Chris Goodwin 8-14 0-0 24, L.A. Farmer 4-6 0-1 9, Brandon Moore 2-3 0-0 4, Chris Leggett 6-10 1-1 13, Cory Cooperwood 7-9 1-3 15, Tony Hall 2-2 0-0 4, Borum 1-6 3-4 6... Team... 34-62 9-15 87. 

3pt: Goodwin 8; Farmer 1, Borum 1; Rebs: Cooperwood 13, Leggett 7, Keeling 7; O-reb: Cooperwood 5, Leggett 4; Steals: Borum 3; TO: Keeling 3, Moore 3, Borum 3; Assists: Keeling 8, Borum 6.

 

Notes: Summer Hill was out rebounded 46-28. Wallace was 10-23 from 3-point line, Summer Hill 6-18. Summer had 18 points off turnovers, Wallace 17. Wallace had 15 second chance pts, Summer Hill 8. Summer Hill had 15 pts off bench, Wallace 13.