Date: Saturday, January 23 2010

Rebels challenge Big Sandy early

By JIM STEELE, Editor pressbox1.com

McKENZIE, Tenn. - For a while, things looked good for the McKenzie Rebels. They were in a dogfight with a potent visiting Big Sandy basketball team. After one, the Rebels trailed 23-21 and put forth their best opening-quarter offensive output since the Bruceton game (29 points). Mid way in the second frame, the Rebs were hanging in, trailing 32-29. Then Big Sandy's firepower took over as the turned away the Rebels challenge 75-54. Big Sandy hit its first seven shots of the game and appeared on the verge of running the Rebels out on their own floor. The Red Devils, behind the sure shooting of Chris Cox and Charles Snow, opened with a 12-2 lead. Back came the Rebels, thanks to a pair of triples from junior guard Max Arnold. They outpaced the Red Devils 13-3 and tied the game at 15. The game was tied two more times, at 17 and 19, before Big Sandy claimed a 23-21 lead after one. Snow fell hard on McKenzie in the second frame. He deposited two big triples in the middle of the second and the Red Devils began to get separation. Snow's three with 5:04 to play sparked a 17-2 run that basically turned the Rebels away. Alex Pierce opened the third with a threebie and the Rebels cut the lead to 14, 51-37. From there, Big Sandy used its firepower to dismantle the Rebels. McKenzie never let the game get to that 35-point margin and kept playing to the end. But a troika of Big Sandy scorers were too much for the Rebel defenders to account for. Cox led the Red Devils with 24, Snow added 23 and Jordan Melton tossed in 15. Max Arnold led the Rebels with 19, Pierce scored 11, Richie Clark had five, Matt Thomas had four, Robert Taylor three, Luke Robertson, Kelby McCaleb, Cody Bullington and Curtis Broadbent each scored two. In the opener: McKENZIE GIRLS 72, BIG SANDY 61 at McKenzie, Tenn. - McKenzie coach Dan Ridley was none too pleased with his team's defensive effort in the first half against the visiting Lady Red Devils. While the Big Sandy girls are much improved, the Lady Rebels were a bit laconic on defense to start the game and allowed Big Sandy to stay close. After one, McKenzie led 17-16, but Big Sandy dictated the pace and played most of the half on its end of the floor. Big Sandy scorer Luz Mena was a big reason for that. She had 15 of her 21 points in the first half and pulled down nine boards in the first two quarters. She finished with 11 rebounds. Big Sandy's 8-0 run mid way in the second quarter propelled it to a 27-25 lead and that prompted a time out from the Lady Rebel coach, who expressed his displeasure in no uncertain terms. In the final 2:42, McKenzie outscored Big Sandy 9-5 to lead 36-32. The Lady Rebels fell behind by nine, however, in the third frame as Anna Caruthers heated up. She nailed two triples and helped catalyze a 15-2 run for a 49-40 lead. McKenzie went the blue-collar route and outscored Big Sandy 10-2 to trail by one, 51-50 after three. In the fourth frame, the Lady Rebels were see-sawing with Big Sandy when Kelsey Carr delievered two big three bombs to break a 58-all tie and spark a 14-3 run to the finish line. Instrumental in the big run to the finish was Trevatia Bowden. She had six steals, four in the second half and at very inopportune times for the Lady Red Devils. Bowden finished with 29 points. Carr scored 12, Crystal Doub had 10, Alex Gray scored seven, Angelique Teaghe scored six, Evan Hudgins added five, Olivia Pate two and Linley McClain one. Big Sandy was a scant 2-for-6 from the floor in the final quarter. Following Mena, Toni Perez and Megan Dilda each had 10. Marissa Fletcher had seven, Caruthers had six and Rachel Stepp five. Michaela Threatt had two.