Lady Wolves smash Holmes; cold-shooting Wolves tumble
Published 6:00 am Tuesday, November 17, 2009
GOODMAN – The No. 4-ranked Copiah-Lincoln Community College LadyWolves continued their winning ways Monday night in Frank BranchColiseum. Co-Lin head coach Gwyn Young saw another balancedperformance from his team, to the tune of a 96-67 blasting of theHolmes Lady Bulldogs.
In the men’s game, poor free throw shooting down the stretch byCo-Lin allowed the homestanding Holmes Bulldogs to escape with a68-62 win over the Wolves.
Co-Lin hosts Northwest Thursday in a non-division twinbill,beginning with the women’s game at 6 p.m., followed by the men at8.
Co-Lin 96, Holmes 67
For the first 2 minutes of the game, it appeared that Holmeswould be primed for an upset. Tiffany Haynes sacked a trey and ashort basket, as the Lady Bulldogs held a short 5-4 lead.
The Lady Wolves (5-0) got a basketball from Crystal Springsnative Rokeiya Adams and never looked back. Young’s ladies went ona resounding 46-20 scoring spurt to take a 51-25 lead into thehalftime locker room.
“We played well in spurts on defense,” Coach Young said. “We hada good all-around game tonight. Everyone contributed.”
Sophomore guard Latoria Holder topped all scorers with 20points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 6 steals; to lead 4 Lady Wolvesin double figures. Naketa Roberts and Rachel Vigers followed with15 points apiece.
Vigers also had 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, whileRoberts had 8 rebounds and 3 steals. Brandi Simmons tossed in 12points.
Haynes paced winless Holmes (0-5) with 14 points. LaquitaArmstead pumped in 10 points. The Lady Bulldogs are coached by RonAldy.
Holmes 68, Co-Lin 62
Co-Lin (2-3) was unable to get shots to fall from the free throwline and from the floor. The Wolves shot a dismal 41 percent (21 of51) from the field and 47 percent (14 of 30) from the charitystripe.
“Neither team played well tonight,” said Wolfpack head coachDennis Sims. “Holmes stepped up when they needed to. We missed toomany free throws in the game.”
The Bulldogs (3-2) opened the scoring and kept a 6 to 9-pointlead in the opening half. A basket by Jonathan Ratliff saw theBulldogs claim a 22-13 lead with nearly 6 minutes left in the firsthalf. Holmes, coached by Jason Flannigan, saw his ballclub losethat advantage in the final minutes of the half.
A 14-7 run by the Wolves saw them trail 29-28 at halftime.
The Bulldogs would again take control of the game in the secondhalf, pushing their lead back to the 6 to 9-point range. Co-Linonce more rallied, cutting their deficit to 4 points on 2occasions; the latest at 61-57 with under 2 minutes left in thegame.
“We missed too many opportunities,” Sims continued. “We have toimprove on the defensive end.”
For Holmes, Jonathan Ratliff led the Bulldogs with 16 points,followed by Gabe Osagie with 12 points and Anthony Jones with 11points. Clyde Moore grabbed 10 rebounds.
Co-Lin got 16 points from Anthony Evans. Marcus Hooten had 13points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists for the Wolfpack.