Sports

 

Atkins Red Devils

 

Red Devils hold off Pottsville; Lady Devils lose final home game

By Gary Murdoch

Atkins Red Devils (15-6, 10-6) had a 13-point lead with 4 ½ minutes left in the game and then had to hold off a late come-back by Pottsville before defeating the Apaches, 54-51, in a 3A-5 conference game at Atkins.

Matt Graham's back-to-back baskets gave the Apaches an early 4-0 lead. Terence Bobo's 3-point play for the Red Devils cut the lead to 4-3 but Eric Tracy hit two free throws and hit a short jumper that increased the lead to 8-3. Bobo hit two free throws and a lay-up, trimming the deficit to 8-7 but Aaron Chenowith's jumper upped the Apache lead back to 3 points, 10-7. D.J. Brinkley's 3 pointer tied the game, 10-10, and Stephen Fletcher's basket gave Atkins its first lead of the game, 12-10. Danny Parker's basket for the Apaches tied the game, 12-12, and Tracy's basket with 53 seconds left in the quarter gave Pottsville a 14-12 lead.

Bobo hit the second of two free throws and Kevin Stokes' basket gave Atkins back the lead, 15-14. Orry Lee's 3-point play, Parker's bucket, and Tracy's free throw and and then his basket put the Apaches back on top, 22-15. Bobo's 3-point play ended the 8-0 Pottsville run and another 3-point play and then two free throws by Bobo gave Atkins a 23-22 lead. Bobo hit two free throws and then hit a jumper with 3 seconds left in the quarter that gave the Red Devils a 27-22 lead. Terence Bobo had 13 points in the second quarter and 20 points in the first half.

Brinkley's 3-pointer opened the third quarter giving Atkins its largest lead of the game, 30-22. Jimmy Freeman's basket for the Apaches ended a 15-0 Atkins run and trimmed the deficit to 30-24. Bradley Harris' basket and Bobo's bucket gave Atkins its first double-digit lead, 34-24. with 5:10 left in the game. After Tracy's basket for the Apaches, Bobo hit back-to-back baskets, increasing the lead to 38-26. Chenowith's basket was followed by a Logan Childress basket for the Red Devils. Tracy's 3-point play with 47 seconds left in the quarter cut the Atkins lead to 40-31 entering the final quarter of play.

Will Rush's basket for Pottsville trimmed the lead to 7 points, 40-33, but Bobo hit three consecutive baskets that gave Atkins a 46-33 lead with 4:32 left in the game. Freeman hit a jumper and then hit a 3-pointer and Parker had a 3-point play that cut the Red Devil lead to 46-41 with 2:45 left. Preston Hernandez hit two free throws and Bobo had a basket that increased the lead to 9 points, 49-41. Cade Coffman's basket and Tracy's basket cut the lead back to 50-45 and Tracy's 3-point play with 35 seconds left in the game cut the lead to 51-48. Bobo hit two free throws but Chenowith hit two free throws for Pottsville with 14 seconds left, cutting the lead to 53-50. Harris hit the second of two free throws with 11 seconds left that upped the lead to 4 points, 54-50. Chenowith hit the second of two free throws with 4 seconds left in the game trimmed the final score to 54-51.

Pottsville (12-8, 10-6) hit 20 of 58 field goal attempts, 10 of 14 free throws and committed 11 turnovers. Eric Tracy had 19 points and 7 rebounds, Danny Parker had 7 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, Jimmy Freeman had 7 points and 5 rebounds and Aaron Chenowith had 7 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals for the Apaches.

Terence Bobo had 37 points and D.J. Brinkley had 6 points to lead the Red Devils.

 

Lady Red Devils fall to Pottsville

 

Atkins' Lady Red Devils (9-13, 8-8) could not overcome a 12-point deficit after the first quarter of play and fell to the Pottsville Lady Apaches, 41-29, Friday (2-8) in a 3A-5 conference game at Atkins. It was the final regular season game of the year for both teams.

Jordan Harris' basket gave Atkins its only lead of the game, 2-0, but Megan Chancellor and Brooka Simmons each scored to give Pottsville a 4-2 lead. Morgan Smart's driving lay-up for the Lady Red Devils tied the game for the last time, 4-4, with 4:58 left in the first quarter. Tricia McCabe and Britney Nealy both had two baskets to give the Lady Apaches a 12-4 lead. Haley Meeks basket for Atkins cut the deficit to 12-6 but Haley Robertson's basket with 21 seconds left in the quarter increased the lead to 14-6.

After Robertson's free throw gave the Lady Apaches a 15-6 lead, Courtney Loveless' 3-point play trimmed the lead back to 15-9. Heather Kendall's two free throws and her short jumper with 3:52 left in the half cut the Pottsville lead to 6 points, 19-13, but Whitney Winters hit two free throws and hit a jumper with 42 seconds left in the quarter that increased the lead to 24-15. Hannah Duvall's 3-pointer for the Lady Red Devils with 2 seconds left in the quarter trimmed the Pottsville lead to 24-18 at the half.

The third quarter was a defensive struggle. Brooka Simmons had two baskets and Britney Nealy had a bucket for Pottsville while Jordan Harris and Heather Kendall had the only baskets for Atkins. Pottsville led 30-22 entering the final quarter of play.

Pottsville led by 8 points after a Haley Meeks basket for the Red Devils with 3:09 left in the game. Nealy's basket and Danni Alexander's free throw increased the lead to 39-28 with 44 seconds left in the game and Haley Robertson's two free throws with 25 seconds left in the game sealed the 41-29 victory for the Lady Apaches.

Pottsville (13-8, 10-6) hit 16 of 42 field goal attempts, 9 of 17 free throws and committed 12 turnovers. Britney Nealy had 15 points, Whitney Winters had 6 points and 6 rebounds and Brooka Simmons had 6 points and 3 steals for the Lady Apaches.

Atkins hit 10 of 36 field goal attempts, 8 of 19 free throws and committed 19 turnovers. Heather Kendall had 8 points, Courtney Loveless had 5 points and Haley Meeks had 5 points for the Lady Red Devils.