PLA tops Lakeside, falls to Northside Methodist
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, January 3, 2007
EUFAULA - Pike Liberal Arts School seniors Shane Lewis and Chase Avant combined for 41 points to power the Patriots past Lakeside Academy 64-52 at the Johnny Shoemaker/Ricky Ward Invitational Tournament.
Lewis led the Patriots with 24 points, while Avant chipped in 17.
Avant also pulled down a team-best nine rebounds and dished out seven assists in the win.
“You can't say enough about the way those two have been playing,” Pike Liberal Arts School head coach Chad Michael said. “Avant was Avant, and Shane really stepped it up. I think Lakeside had seen Avant score 33 points the night before and decided they were going to try and shut him down, and by doing that they gave Shane a lot of open looks and he knocked them down.”
Senior guard Chase Rogers tallied nine points, nine rebounds and two assists for the Patriots, while fellow senior Hawkins Drinkard snagged seven rebounds.
For the Patriots, the win comes on the heels of an 86-71win over Crisp Academy, and extends the Patriots win streak to three games after knocking off Dixie Academy and Abbeville Academy prior to the start of the Christmas break.
That streak came to an end on Friday night when Dothan's Northside Methodist topped the Patriots 86-73 in the championship game of the tournament.
“It was a great game,” Michael said. “It was an up and down game, which is what we want, but Northside Methodist was a really good team, and they got the better of us. Still, I think we benefited from the game. We're getting better and better every single time we step on the court, whether it's a game or practice, and that's what you want. I think we took a lot of confidence away from this tournament. We had been playing well at home, but we hadn't played as well on the road. We played really well this week, and I think it's going to help us as we get into the meat of our schedule.”
The Lady Patriots rebounded from a 41-33 loss to Crisp Academy at the Johnny Shoemaker/Ricky Ward Invitational Tournament by topping Ashford Academy 50-20.
Junior Sara Sellers led the charge for Pike Liberal Arts with a game-high 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Freshman Josie Griffin added 13 points and five boards, while senior Amy Cole snagged seven rebounds in the win.
Ashford was led by Ashton Kirkland's eight points.