Southwest DeKalb’s Taylor Christmas (45) blocks out against Arabia Mountain’s Sydney Bunkley (10). Christmas hit for 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds in her team’s 72-57 win. (Photo by Mark Brock)
A 50-22 advantage in rebounding helped spur the Southwest DeKalb Lady Panthers to a 72-57 victory over the No. 6 ranked Arabia Mountain Lady Rams at Arabia Mountain on Tuesday night to move into first place all alone in the Region 5-5A girls’ race.
Junior post player Adrieanna Brownlee led the way with 13 rebounds and junior Pryia Thompson added 12 on the night as the Lady Panthers (12-6, 6-0) dominated inside throughout the game against the Lady Rams (14-2, 5-1) who suffered just their second loss on the season.
Nya Bostic’s offensive rebound and put-back with 57 seconds gave Southwest DeKalb its first lead of the game and the Lady Panthers would not trail the rest of way after going up 19-15 heading into the second period. Post players Brownlee and Taylor Christmas (15 points, 8 rebounds) teamed up on a nice play with 16 seconds to play as Brownlee fed Christmas for a layup.
Christmas’ layup capped a 9-0 run by the Lady Panthers in the final 1:58 of the first quarter to take control. Jayla Kimbrough’s three-pointer started the run with Southwest DeKalb down 15-10 following Jordan Ward’s old fashioned three-point play after being fouled on a made layup.
An 8-0 run to finish the first half began on a drive by Kimbrough, who had 22 points in the game, with 2:07 left in the first half after Arabia Mountain had cut the lead to three (29-26) on a layup by Ke’Andrea Middlebrooks.
Christmas had five of the points with two layups and a free throw in the final 1:22 including an offensive rebound with three seconds remaining to send her team into the half up 37-26.
Another 8-0 run to start the second half helped Southwest DeKalb lead by as much as 20 (56-36) in the third quarter as Kimbrough added seven points to her total in the period and Thompson’s layup at the 2:26 mark.
Myori Pruitt had a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter, but Brownlee would counter with six points of her own while grabbing six rebounds on the way to her 14 point, 13-rebound double-double.
Christmas took a pass from Kimbrough and laid it in with six seconds to play for the final of 72-57.
Mikayla Jamison led Arabia Mountain with 13 points and 8 rebounds in the game while Sydney Bunkley added 11 points.
Arabia Mountain’s Chase Ballard (3) drives against Southwest DeKalb’s Jacorry Gist (0). Ballard had a valiant effort with 21 points, but the Rams fell 65-52 to the Panthers. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Boys: SW DeKalb 65, Arabia Mountain 52
The Southwest DeKalb Panthers exploded for 27 fourth quarter points to pull away from the Arabia Mountain Rams to complete the Region 5-5A sweep at Arabia Mountain.
Ohio State signee Eugene Brown III scored seven of his 13 points in the fourth quarter on the way to a double-double as he grabbed 11 rebounds, six in the second half.
Brown gave the Panthers (9-8, 4-2) an eight-point lead at 43-35 on an and-one with 6:41 to play in the game.
Arabia Mountain cut the lead to six twice at 48-42 on a pair of Brandon Gunn free throws with 3:27 remaining and a short jumper by Chase Ballard (game-high 21 points) with 2:58 to play.
Mohamed Diallo’s steal and two-handed dunk with 2:13 left in the game brought the crowd to their feet as he scored six of his 17 points (10 rebounds) in the fourth quarter on the way to a double-double.
Ballard’s drive for an and-one and then a steal that led to two free throws for the hustler cut the lead to 60-52 with 51.4 seconds to play.
Kortney Forest responded with two mad free throws and Kusame Draper (10 points, 9 rebounds) hit one of two from the line before Brown’s windmill dunk with two seconds to play made the final of 65-52.
Alhaji Mansaray scored seven points in a run all by himself early in the second quarter that helped the Rams (7-9, 2-4) take a 26-24 lead into the halftime break.