Bass leads the way

January 19, 2011

By Jason Hunt of Nashville Stars Elite

JCM falls hard in District 14-AA

Cougars unable to handle Wildcats

BY DAVID THOMAS
DGTHOMAS@JACKSONSUN.COM
• January 15, 2011

Jackson Central-Merry head basketball coach Lonnie Starks summed up the Cougars' 92-68 loss Friday to Fayette-Ware about as plainly as he could.

"We got our heads handed to us," Starks said. "At halftime, we talked about getting down and playing defense."

But Fayette-Ware had other plans as the Wildcats increased a 19-point halftime lead to 26 going into the final eight minutes to win the District 14-AA game.

"We have so many interchangeable parts," Fayette-Ware coach William Bond said. "It's not just confidence, but we find what we can be successful at."

Bond was coaching his first game for the Wildcats (6-5, 3-2), taking over for head coach Jason Winfrey who was on "personal leave."

Fayette-Ware came at JCM in waves, with 14 of the team's 15 players recording at least one field goal.

"It doesn't surprise us that everyone contributed," Fayette-Ware's Benny Williams said. "If the first five doesn't get it right, we (look) to the bench."

Williams contributed 15 points, all of which came in the first half.

A field goal by Orlando Bass — who had a game-high 20 points — gave the 'Cats a 19-18 lead with 1:20 to play in the first quarter, and Fayette-Ware never looked back.

"I like playing outside, but I can go inside," Bass said. "It doesn't matter to me. We played really hard, put (JCM) down and kept them down."

Fayette-Ware used a 13-4 run in the final 3:27 of the second quarter for a 50-31 lead at intermission.

The 'Cats kept the defensive pressure on after the break and built their lead to 62-38 with 4:15 to play in the third quarter on field goals by Bendarius Richardson, Cooper and Bass.

The run came after back-to-back field goals by JCM (A.J. Dodd and Jamal Delk), something the Cougars were able to do only three times all night.

A 3-pointer and layup by Sherman Whitelaw (15 points) and field goals by Delk and Dodd (14 points) gave JCM (3-11, 1-5) a 9-2 lead with 5:27 to play in the first quarter, but Fayette-Ware pulled even at 17-17 on a 3-pointer by Williams and ahead when Bass hit a layup.

"It's not a secret that we don't have an inside presence," Starks said. "(Fayette-Ware) is comfortable shooting inside and shooting 3s. They are very athletic, and they took us out of our offense completely."

Additional box scores

South Side 74, Fayette-Ware 62

South Side 18 22 20 14 — 74

Fayette-Ware 16 10 10 26 — 62

South Side (74) — Barford 2, Sain 2, Fuller 3, Swift 2, Ross 8, Leland Robinson 15, Smith 3, A.J. Merriweather 10, Johnny Buckley 16, Miller 4.

Fayette-Ware (62) — Carlos Hart 12, Lewis 3, Orlando Bass 24, Bendarius Richardson 17, A. Richardson 2, Thomas 2, Cooper 2.

3-Pointers: SS — Fuller, Buckley 4; FW — Bass. Records: SS 11-6 (3-2).
High School

Boys

Bolivar 82, Liberty 75

Bolivar 15 21 19 27 — 82

Liberty 18 9 20 28 — 75

Bolivar (82) — Woods 6, Roberts 4, McKinnie 3, O'Neal Woods 24, Price 3, Trey Polk 15, Ransom 9, Frank Hayes 10, Kessler 8.

Liberty (75) — Kendall Anthony 27, Day 5, DeAndre Barnette 13, Joevante Arnold 14 , Daniel Hill 10, Smith 6.

3-pointers: B — McKinnie, Ransom 2, Kessler; L — Anthony 4, Day, Hill. Records: B 10-6 (4-1); L 12-3 (4-1).