Low for the week

DANIELS LEADS CHARGE IN 42-25 VICTORY OVER WEST NOTTINGHAM RAMS

By Kevin Phillips

COLORA–Tri-State Christian Academy struggled on both ends of the floor grabbing rebounds in the first half of its Mid-Atlantic Independent League girls’ basketball contest against host West Nottingham Academy Thursday afternoon. The Crusaders picked up the intensity on the boards in the second half as they limited second chance opportunities and held the Rams to 10 points in the final two quarters to pull away for a 42-25 victory. “A lot of the 50/50 balls weren’t going our way,” Tri-State head coach Bill Smith said. “We had to decide if we wanted to box out and rebound. We picked up our sense of urgency and began to box out and rebound.” With the score knotted up at 19-19 midway through the third quarter, the Crusaders ratcheted up the defensive pressure in their half-court trap, which forced several turnovers and low-percentage shots. As a result of those low-percentage shots, the Crusaders did not allow another field goal until there were four minutes to go in the fourth quarter, and after the missed shots, Tri-State’s bigs were in the right place to pick up the rebound. In that stretch in which the Crusaders did not allow a field goal, they went on a 20-1 run that gave them a 39-20 lead to take control of the game, and the duo of Mimi Daniels and Jules Harris combined for 16 points during the run. Daniels finished with 13 points, nine of which came during the game-deciding run, credits her teammates for creating open looks for her during the surge.

“I felt pretty confident tonight because I got some good passes from teammates,” Daniels said. “We started off pretty bad, but once I started hitting my shots, I did a lot better.” Harris scored a gamehigh 14 points for Tri-State while the Rams got 10 points from Jenniah Odige.

WEST NOTTINGHAM RAMS HOLD ON TO UPSET CRUSADERS 65-62

By Kevin Phillips

COLORA–West Nottingham Academy found itself trailing by a point late in the fourth quarter after its 10-point lead to start the final quarter vanished against visiting Tri-State Christian Academy in a late-season Mid-Atlantic Independent League boys’ basketball contest Thursday evening.

The Rams regained their composure and switched their defense, and that paid off as they scored 12 points in the last 2:45 of the contest to rally past the Crusaders to earn a 6562 victory. “Coach [Aaron Byrd] told us to stay composed. We shook the defense a little bit,” West Nottingham’s Keshawn Gardner said. “That gave us a little momentum change.We did a great job overall and 44 [Tolu Semowo] did a great job rebounding, blocking shots and defending. We were trying to play the best basketball we can play.”

BIBLE TRIVIA

by Wilson Casey

1. Is the book of James in the Old or New Testament or neither?

2. From 2 Samuel 6, who died after accidentally touching the Ark of the Covenant? Achan, Zedekiah, Naboth, Uzzah

3. In Judges 13, to whose wife did an angel appear, telling her she’d conceive a son? Samson, Manoah, Josiah, Cain

4. What godly son was born to Hannah and Elkanah in answer to prayer? Ezekiel, Paul, Samuel, Hosea

5. From Judges 14, what animal took Samson by surprise attack? Bear, Fox, Lion, Boar

6. Who burned David’s city of Ziklag? Amalekites, Nazarites, Gibeonites, Israelites

ANSWERS: 1) New 2) Uzzah 3) Manoah 4) Samuel 5) Lion 6) Amalekites The Rams started the fourth quarter with a 50-40 lead, but Tri-State opened the final frame with a 14-3 surge and took the lead for the first time since the second quarter when Jonte Jenson made a layup to make it 54-53 with 3:12 remaining.

That lead was shortlived, however, as Gonzalo Lominchar Sanchez hit a three-pointer with 2:45 remaining to give West Nottingham a 56-54 lead, and the Rams kept the Crusaders at bay for the remainder of the game as they made 7-10 free throws down the stretch.

Those ten free throw attempts in the final minutes were a part of a game-long trend as West Nottingham attempted 24 free throws for the game, and that was a result of the team playing more aggressively than it did in a 71-57 loss in its previous game against TriState on January 31. “Before the game, our coach said attacking would be the key to winning because in the first game we played them, we didn’t do that,” Gardner, who had a game-high 30 points, said. “We were shooting and not getting to the basket. We went back and watched film and saw that we could attack.” Those free-throw opportunities turned out to be the difference in the game as the Rams had 19 more free throws than the Crusaders, who went 0-5 from the line, and head coach Bill Smith said his team had an over-reliance on three-pointers against West Nottingham. “We tend to live by the three, and we die by the three. The middle was wide open, and we begged the guys to get inside to score,” Smith said. “They weren’t doing it. We died by the three tonight.” Semowo had 19 points to help West Nottingham’s cause. Tri-State, who lost for the first time against in-county opponents this season, got 16 points from Sam Falko, 13 from Jeremiah Falko, 11 from Jenson and 10 from Kyle Rogers.

Autumn Marquess Owner/Agent

Phone: 410-398-1884 Fax: 410-392-4558

Email: Autumn@acmins.net Website: www.acmins.net

PHOTOS BY KARINA SERIO

JEFFERSON LEADS GOLDEN ELKS TO 45-29 WIN OVER TOME TITANS

By Karina Serio

Elkton Girls Basketball Coach Gabe Sherrod has been working all season to teach his squad to play basketball the way he was taught to play. In a season that has had a pair of three-game losing streaks, the Lady Golden Elks have run off five straight wins after defeating Tome School 45-29 and Kenwood High School 47-31 on Thursday and Friday nights to close out the regular season. “I was coached by Givens Jr., but his dad Givens Sr. was always in the gym with me. They just talked all the time about knowing who you are as a basketball player. Being who I was, one of the more dominant players in this area at that time, knowing who I was on the court, knowing what I could do and what I could control,” said Sherrod, “Applying that to being a coach is about now just applying those things to what the whole team can do, what we all can control. I always preach to the girls to play Elkton basketball. Don’t play anybody else's game but ours. If we do that, we're gonna be fine.” Mikayla Jefferson led the scoring for the Lady Golden Elks with 12 points and Payton Hardy added 11 points. “Finally they're listening. The one thing we talk about is sustaining runs trying to stay patient. Getting in a flow. Just making sure there's an ebb and a flow to the game.” said Sherrod. “I told the girls every game no matter who you're playing, it's gonna be a contest, it's competitive. Just staying in the ebb and flow, the girls really appreciated the coaching and the learning part of it. They’re really beginning to learn about basketball and how to move and play together.” Tome School opened an early lead, but then struggled on the road in Elkton. After falling behind in the second quarter, they never mounted a sustained run. Emmersen Peel and Alivia Carillo each scored nine points to lead the Titans in scoring.