Avant, Ward lead Pike Lib to sweep of Abbeville
Published 10:31 pm Friday, January 3, 2014
He led three different Pike Liberal Arts teams to wins over Abbeville Christian. Allen’s regular team, the varsity boys, knocked off the Generals 68-58, while his two ‘rented’ teams also picked up wins.
The JV girls hit a buzzer beater to win 15-14, and the varsity girls used strong defense to knock off Abbeville 35-6.
The Pike varsity boys trailed 14-9 midway through the first quarter, but got hot late, ending the stanza on a 12-0 run to the lead.
Brian Adams hit back-to-back threes, including one at the buzzer, to end the quarter.
Abbeville would never get closer throughout the rest of the game, as Pike seemed to answer every General bucket with one of their own.
Chandler Avant led the Patriots with 36 points, which Allen said was “about right.”
“Chan is a heck of a player,” Allen said. “He gets a lot of hustle points by running the floor. He can score inside and out, and can also create for his teammates. I am really proud of the way he played.”
Down the stretch, Pike was never threatened, but also never seemed to get comfortable against the winless Generals.
Allen tipped his hat to the toughness of Abbeville.
“Abbeville plays hard every second of the game,” Allen said. “They can shoot well at times too. They are better than what there record shows, but we also played a lot of younger guys a good deal in the fourth. District play starts next week, and everyone needs to be ready.”
On the girl’s side, Pike used a suffocating defense and controlled offense to pull away from Abbeville and pick up a 35-6 win.
Katie Ward scored 12 of her game-high 16 points in the second half, but it was her defensive effort that drew praise from Kennedy in his post-game interview.
“Katie is a tough player, and plays hard all the time, just like Chan does for the boys,” Allen said. “We came in yesterday and shot, and she knew he shot was a little off. She got her points when she could, but she played great defense all game. All the girls did. Anytime you can hold a team under 10, it’s a good day.”
Allen’s first win of the day came in the JV girl’s game.
The Lady Pats hit a buzzer beater to win 15-14.
Despite the trio of wins on Friday, Allen said he has no plans to make this a usual occurrence.
“The girls are great, but Coach Kennedy can have his teams back on Sunday,” Allen said with smile.