A pair of exciting routs at home were followed by a pair of losses in Waynesboro for the Stone High varsity basketball teams last week.
BOYS
The Tomcats fired up the crowd at Henry Rath Activity Center last Tuesday with an 81-49 victory over Vancleave.
Charles Smith led the way with 24 points for Stone.
"We've tried to impress on him that if he'd hang around the paint, he'd score a lot of points," coach Todd Miller said. "He did more of that Tuesday and it showed."
Lester Blackley added 13 points and Terrance James had 10.
Darius Jones was feeding the scorers, tallying 10 assists on the night. Jones also made six steals while Blackley had five.
Stone entertained the crowd with dunks and a beautiful alley-oop finished forcefully by James.
The Tomcats then traveled to Waynesboro for their second meeting with the defending 5A state champion Wayne County War Eagles.
The War Eagles, 25-1 overall and 4-0 in division play, put an 85-41 drubbing on the Tomcats, opening the game with a dunk, an alley-oop and another dunk.
"We were only down by 16 at the half and we were feeling pretty good about ourselves," Miller said. "Then, they outscored us 33-9 in the third quarter.
"They basically took us out behind the woodshed and spanked us in that second half."
Stone was without Jones, its leading scorer, as he had been out of town and couldn't attend practice.
Smith was the only Tomcat to score in double figures, contributing 15 points.
"Charles had a real good week for us," Miller said. "He hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter against Wayne County."
The Tomcats (12-13, 2-3 Division 6-5A) were scheduled to travel to West Jones to close out divisional play Tuesday and host D'Iberville on Senior Night Friday.
Divisional playoffs begin next week at South Jones and Miller believes his team stands a good chance of advancing past the divisional round if it can control the pace of play in a first-round matchup with South Jones.
The two teams split in the regular season, each winning on its home floor.
"We're going to get them again and they'll probably have a little chip on their shoulder," Miller said. If we can control the tempo and pound it inside, we have a good chance.
"If we get into an up and down, running game with them, it's over."
GIRLS
After beating Vancleave 54-37 last Tuesday, the Lady 'Cats went to Wayne County and suffered a 67-51 loss at the hands of the Lady War Eagles.
Danielle Martin releases a layup against Vancleave. JODY O'HARA/ENTERPRISE
Stone had beaten Wayne County by 14 points two weeks prior.
A big difference this time around was the fact the Lady 'Cats shot just two free throws, compared to 31 for the Lady War Eagles.
That lopsided statistic prompted one observer to note, "Apparently, Wayne County doesn't commit fouls when it plays in Waynesboro."
Symone Tillman scored 15 points to lead Stone in the victory over Vancleave while Amanda Evans and Christa Owen each contributed 11. Danielle Martin added nine.
An uncharacteristic lack of scoring from Evans in the Wayne County game, combined with the dearth of free throws, spelled doom for the Lady 'Cats.
"If we get to the line 10 times and Amanda has a little better night, there'd have been a completely different complexion on that ball game," said coach Sam Smith.
Martin led Stone with 18 points while Tillman and Owen each added 10.
The loss means Stone will likely earn the third seed for the Divisional playoffs. Whether they were seeded 1 or 2, the Lady 'Cats would face the same opponent.
"The only real difference is the No. 2 seed will get an additional player selected for All-Division," Smith said. "Other than that, we still have to line up and play the game."
The Lady 'Cats traveled to West Jones Tuesday and host D'Iberville for Senior Night on Friday.
The postseason kicks off next week at South Jones.
