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surviveswins divisionPat McCannNews Herald Sports EditorIt was your classic case of Oh no ... don’t shoot... great shot!Kenny Holmes, who moments before had made only his second basket of the game, pulled up for a 15-foot jumpshot with Fellowship Christian Academy clinging to a one-point lead Saturday afternoon at Panama City Christian School.Holmes’ shot, which came while the unbeaten Eagles were trying to run off the final 30 seconds of clock, was dead-on perfect. FCA then survived some final strategy by the Crusaders and held on for a 60-59 win to claim the Eastern Division title of the Panhandle Christian Conference.“Yeah, I was surprised he took it because he wasn’t hitting anything all night,” said FCA coach Ronnie Blue, whose team beat PCCS for the fifth time this season to improve to 23-0.Holmes’ clutch basket helped climax a struggle for the Eagles, who trailed throughout the second half until Byron Rosier’s free throwprovided a 54-53 edge with 1:59 remaining. Rosier and Holmes are FCA’s only seniors.Blue admitted that it’s tough enough beating any team three times in a season, much less five. Especially the Crusaders, who’ve extended FCA to the final horn on most of those occasions.“You figure the percentages are against you, but I told the kids that we’ve beaten them four or five times, so why lose to them now?”The defeat, while disheartening for PCCS (16-9) was academic in some regards as both teams advance to the PCC Final Four on Friday at East Hills in Pensacola.But it was all too familiar to the Crusaders and head coach Fred Denecke.“We managed the game much better this time, but I think the difference is that they handle pressure a little bit better,” Denecke said. “They don’t panic like we do.”The Eagles, who go only six deep, certainly had their chances to. First of all, starter Clint Burroughs picked up his fourth foul with 24 seconds left in the first half. Then Holmes got his fourth with 3:25 left in the third quarter.Neither fouled out, and the Eagles responded time and again, especially when PCCS took a 39-32 lead, the biggest of the game, midway through the third quarter.The Eagles answered with seven straight points, tying the game 39-39 when junior Isiah Jackson hit a free throw with 1:04 left in the third quarter. Jackson added eight of his team-high 19 points in thefourth quarter, FCA rallying from a 50-45 deficit with 4:21 remaining.Rosier had 15 points and Tra-varas Reed scored all but two of his 12 in the second half. Holmes had just six points, but four of them came in the final minute.PCCS still had a chance, trailing just 58-55 with 12 seconds left.“We were trying to isolate Zacari Pope one-on-one on the side and either have him shoot a three or drive to the basket and try to get a three-point play,” Denecke explained.Reed unraveled that plan when he fouled Pope with seven seconds left. Pope made one free throw, and Reed came down with the rebound when Pope missed the second.Reed nailed both ends of the bonus for a 60-56 lead, and FCA needed both makes as Alex Caster swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer.Pope had 21 points for PCCS, Caster 18 and Juan Acaron fought off foul trouble to add 11.Pope and Caster each had 10 points in the first half, the Crusaders leading 29-26 at intermission. Pope added eight in the third quarter, his strong drive giving PCCS a 43-41 lead entering the final period.FCA advances against the second-place team from the West Division on Friday, while PCCS meets the West Division champion.FCA (60)Jackson 5 8-9 19, Holmes 3 0-4 6, Reed 2 8-10 12, Curroughs 3 0-0 6, Rosier 6 1-215, Smith 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 17-25 60.PCCS (59)Henderson 0 2-2 2, Acaron 3 5-6 11, FI,owers 1 0-0 2, Pope 8 5-6 21, Bunce 2 0-0 5, Casrter 6 4-6 16, Huber 0 0-0 0, Fridley 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 16-20 59.FCAPCCS13 13 15 19-60 13 16 14 16-593-point goals: Fellowship 3-17 (Rosier 2-10, Jackson 1-5, Reed 0-1, Smith 0-1), PCCS 3-11 (Caster 2-6, Bunce 1-2, Pope 0-2, Henderson 0-1). Total fouls: FCA 16, PCCS 20. Fouled out: PCCS (Bunce). Technical fouls: none.GIRLS BASKETBALLROCKY BAYOU ...................58PCCS.................................24Host Panama City Christian School was held to only one field goal in three of the four quarters as Rocky Bayou claimed the East Division girls title. The Lady Crusaders (8-7) didn’t connect from the field until Denise Combs hit in the final 30 seconds of the first quarter. With Christy Smith scoring 19 points and Jessica Delago 14, Rocky Bayou wasn’t threatened. Meghann Trip led PCCS with eight points.PCCS 24)E.Garrett 2 1-6 5, L.Garrett 1 0-6 2, Cmobs 1 0-1 2, Bell 2 3-5 7, Lee 0 0-2 0, Green 0 0-5 0, Trip 3 2-4 8. Totals: 9 6-29 24. ROCKY BAYOU (58)Kenton 1 0-0 2, Geisel 2 1-2 5, Smith 9 1-6 19, Galloway 2 0-2 4, Bilby 1 0-0 2. Mullins 2 2-6 6, LDelgado 1 4-4 6. J.Delgado 62-9 14. Totals: 24 10-29 58.PCCSRocky Bayou3 12 3 6—24 13 17 11 17-583-polnt goals: none. Total fouls: PCCS 23, Rocky Bayou 23. Fouled out: PCCS (L.Garrett, Combs), Rocky Bayou (Bilby). Technical fouls: none.BOYS BASKETBALLscored 25 points to lead three Malone players in double-figures as the Tigers topped the host Marianna Bulldogs in their regular-season finale. Cori Tiggs added 15 points and Tyrone Tiggs 11 for Malone, which hit nine 3-pointers. Marianna (12-14 overall) got 18 points from James Thomas, 16 from Rashard Pittman, 11 from Travis Ethriam and 10 from Julian Daniels.MALONE (75)Williams 9 6-7 25, Tiggs 5 2-4 15, Tiggs 4 2-3 11, Bellamy 3 0-0 9. Baker 3 1-4 7, Smith 2 1*2 6. Totals; 27 12-20 75. MARIANNA (67)Thomas 5 8-11 18, Pittman 6 3-3 16, Ethriam 35-611, Daniels 5 0-0 10, Brown 2 0-0 6, Holden 1 0-0 3, Bowers 1 0-0 3. Totals: 23 16-20 67.MaloneMarianna14 14 23 24-75 10 16 24 16—673-point goals: Malone 9 (T. Tiggs, Bellamy 3, C. Tiggs 3, Smith, Williams); Marianna 5 (Brown 2, Pittman, Holden, Bowers). Total fouls: Malone 18, Marianna 17. Fouled out: none. Technicals: Malone 2. Marianna.MALONE .... MARIANNA ,MARIANNA..................75..................67Natom WilliamsWRESTLINGDISTRICT 1-5 AFive Rutherford wrestlers won district titles Friday night, leading the Rams to a District 1-5A championship at Godby High School in Tallahassee. Rutherford, which placed 11 wrestlers into the finals, finished with 192.5 points, followed by second-place Bay (153), Fort Walton Beach (139.5) and Godby (133). 103-pounder Richard Caisse, Jarren Aguon (112), Robert Massalene (135), Jerry Dempsey (152) and heavyweight James Taylor all claimed district titles for the Rams, who travel to Forrest High School in Jacksonville Friday and Saturday for a regional meet.DISTRICT 1-4AA rugged regular season schedule paid dividends for the Marianna High wrestling team on Friday night as the Bulldogs won a 1-4A district title. Marianna, which competed much of the season against 5A and 6A opponents, amassed 158 points to easily outdistance host Wakulla (102). Tallahassee Rickards (81) finished third and Pensacola Christian (21) was fourth. The victory, buoyed by pins from Brian Green (103), Paul Schurer (152), Bryan Sims (171) and Brad Simmons (215), advanced the Bulldogs to the Region 1-4A Tournament at Jacksonville Bolles on Thursday. Other Bulldogs winning individual district titles were Travis Edison (125), Mario Gonzalez (130), James Rynes (135) and Michael Hinson (140). Marcus Green (160), Drew Nicholson (189) and Tad Garrett (heavyweight) earned second-place finishes.TRACKMOSLEY DUO PLACESMosley senior Enrika Knox and Lady Dolphins junior Sara Jordan placed in the Florida Indoor Track and Field Championships in Gainesville. Knox finished 13th in the 200 meters with a time of 28:65 seconds. The winning time was 27.13. Knox was ninth in the 5* meters at 7.33. The winning time was 7.18. Jordan placed 12th in the 3,200 meters with a time of 16:13. The Mosley track team will open its season Feb. 22 at the Catholic Invitational in Pensacola.
Newspaper Details
Panama City News Herald
Panama City, Florida, US
Sun, Feb 09, 1997
Page 15
Full Page
Clipped by
Travaras R.
FL, USA 27 Apr 2021
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