Parkers Chapel sweeps Emerson
PARKERS CHAPEL Parkers Chapel’s boys stayed unbeaten on the season, using a balanced offensive attack to gradually pull away from Emerson 67-53 Friday night.
In the senior girls game, the Lady Trojans prevailed 36-32 to win their third game in a row.
Amari Bell and Nate Garrett-Evans led three Trojans in double figures as Parkers Chapel’s boys improved to 7-0 on the season.
Parkers Chapel used a 12-0 run to grab a 12-3 lead with three minutes left in the opening quarter.
PC led 14-5 after one quarter and 31-19 at the intermission.
“I thought, in the first half especially, we played pretty good on defense. We were a little bit lacking on offense but, after halftime, we came out and cleaned some things up on our offense,” said Parkers Chapel coach Josh Langley.
“Then, they got hot and it seemed everything they threw up went in, no matter how deep they shot it from. But, overall, I’m happy.
“We played pretty good defense other than the fact they shot it well from long range. Other than that, we played really well.”
Emerson (2-7) hung around on the scoreboard thanks to some long-range shooting from Kutter Waller, who hit five 3-pointers. The Pirates cut the deficit to 35-27 early in the third on a 3-pointer by Corey Griffin.
PC answered with a corner 3-pointer by Garrett-Evans, who followed with a steal and lay-up.
The Pirates hit a free throw, which briefly interrupted a 15-1 run. Bell scored in the paint and Dawson Goodwin slashed to the rim for a bucket as the lead swelled to 51-28 with
3:05 left in the third.
Bell closed the quarter with seven points in the final 2:37 as the Trojans carried a 60-39 lead into the final quarter.
Bell and Garrett-Evans each scored 17 points to lead PC.
Goodwin finished with 15 and sophomore guard Terrell Malone chipped in with eight.
Waller led the Pirates with 19 points. Staguerious Arnold and Griffin added 11 and 10, respectively.
In the senior girls game, the Lady Trojans jumped out to a 19-1 lead but needed two free throws from T.K. Burson to fend off Emerson’s second-half rally.
“The first half we were really working the ball around offensively. It seemed like we were hitting our groove there and getting good open shots,” said PC coach Justin Welch.
“The second half, Emerson started matching up a little bit where we couldn’t quite reverse the ball as quick as we wanted to. We had to make some adjustments there and we just didn’t do it.”
PC’s Terri Malone scored 14 of her team’s first 19 points. The Lady Trojans led 23-5 at the half.
Emerson opened the third quarter with a 10-0 run, including back-toback 3-point bombs by Kinsley Gunnels.
The Lady Trojans hit just two baskets in the third but both were 3-pointers by Malone, whose shot gave PC a 29-17 lead going into the fourth.
The Lady Trojans’ offensive woes continued in the final period as they were held to just one basket.
Emerson crept closer and closed to within 33-31 on another longrange 3-pointer from Gunnels with a minute remaining.
Malone hit a free throw with 43.6 seconds left but Gunnels hit one from the line for Emerson, cutting the margin to 34-32 with 18 ticks on the clock.
Burson, who, defensively, held Gunnels without a shot attempt on the Lady Pirates’ final two possessions, went to the line with 8.6 remaining for a 1-and-1 opportunity.
The senior made both ends to seal the deal.
Malone scored 25 points with eight rebounds as the Lady Trojans improved to 3-4 on the season.
In addition to Burson’s defense late on Gunnels, Welch gave a nod to Kaylin Waller for her effort in defending Emerson’s Tieyanna Robinson.
Gunnels and Robinson had 10 points apiece for Emerson (0-7).
“We’ve still got a lot of things to clean up. But, the girls are working hard for me,” said Welch.
“They’re wanting to get better and that’s a good sign. I’m proud of them. They didn’t get their heads down when we started out on a bumpy road.
“They’re hanging in there and they’re working hard. That’s all you can ask a group to do.”
Emerson won the junior girls game 39-19.