Patriots roll over area foe Monroe
Published 10:55 pm Friday, January 13, 2012
It was a dominating performance from both the boys and girl’s teams at Pike Liberal Arts School, with both side taking a win with the help of overpowering defense.
The boy’s team brought home a 58-30 win over the Monroe Academy Vols, who were unable to put double digits on the board until the final minutes of the second period.
The boy’s team put up six unanswered points to start the game thanks to the efforts of Myles Loving and Tanner Free, who kicked off a game that would never see Pike Lib out of the lead.
The win broke a tough three game losing streak for the Patriots, who lost at home last week to Edgewood on a final buzzer shot.
“We’ve been on the short end of the stick since we came back in January,” Patriots head coach Bob Pickett said. “This win was a huge morale boost for us and really helps get the guys back up especially in a region win such as this.”
The Patriot scoring attack was led by Loving and Stewart Pinkard, who each brought in 10 point apiece for the team, but coach Pickett was especially proud of his bench players, who came in to keep the tempo up and hold on to the lead.
“One thing that was a big part of our scoring was our bench guys,” he said. “Avery Phelps had six points and Sam Collier had three and those points are huge. When we have a bench guy come in and get hot it helps push our offense up to a new level. Alex Tillery, Jake Watkins, and Rush Hixon are some examples of that. I’m proud of the way everyone played, they played the way they’ve been practicing.”
Though the boy’s brought in a big win against Monroe, they weren’t the only ones putting up big numbers.
The girl’s team took the victory with a high-scoring 60-28 win that started off with seven unanswered points thanks to a combination of Marlee Tunstill and Sarah Saunders.
The girls controlled the movement of the ball throughout the game, getting ahead by as much as thirty points in the final minutes.
The girl’s offensive attack was led by Tunstill, who brought in 25 of the team’s total points, and backed up by Carrley Barron with 11 and Saunders with 8 of her own.
The wins leave both teams in a much better position for Saturday’s game against Kingwood, the last in a home series that has lasted for three games.
Tip-off for the girl’s will be at 2 p.m. with the boy’s game to follow.