By Michael Lindsay
The Stone Memorial Panthers opened District 7AAA play with a commanding victory over DeKalb County Friday evening, 81-47.
Stone Memorial is 8-0 overall and 1-0 in district play following the 34-point win.
“Your record is 0-0; nothing before tonight matters,” said SMHS head coach Neil Capps. “It’s all preseason because the district ones are important. They have implications on the postseason, and it being our first home game of the season, we really wanted to come in here and compete defensively.”
Senior Matthew Bilbrey led Stone Memorial in scoring with 25 points in 3 quarters, followed by sophomore Cade Capps with 19, also in 3 quarters. Capps and Bilbrey hit 8 of the team’s 12 three-pointers with 4 each.
“These kids showed up ready to play tonight; they got after it and I’m pleased with how they competed,” coach Capps added. “You only get 12 of these district games, and they all mean something. This is the first time all year we hit double-digit threes, and that had a lot to do with our energy.”
Leading DeKalb County was Conner Close with 13 points.
Despite the 34-point win, Stone Memorial held a narrow 17-14 lead after one quarter.
“Coach Agee does a really good job at DeKalb and they’ve got some good players,” Capps said. “They were making some tough shots over tough defense early. We finally were able to get some stops. We didn’t shoot well early but got rolling. We were really good in transition; our defense created offense by getting stops. Being able to rebound the basketball tonight like we did was big.”
Roll the Panthers did as they outscored DeKalb 25-10 in the second period to lead 42-24 at halftime.
The third quarter mirrored the second as Stone Memorial held a 61-36 lead after three periods before winning by a final score of 81-47.
DeKalb County falls to 6-2 overall and hosts White County (5-2) on Tuesday. The Warriors fell in overtime to Upperman on Friday, 58-55.
The 8-0 Panthers are in action again tonight (Saturday) as they host 3-1 Cookeville, who defeated Oakland Friday, 58-41.
“It’s Cookeville; it doesn’t take much more motivation than that,” Capps said. “They’ve been a big-time program for a long time, and coach Heard does a really good job.”
Stone Memorial defeated Cookeville on Nov. 22, 65-57.
Stone Memorial (81): Matthew Bilbrey 25, Cade Capps 19, Brady Lane 10, Jordan Manis 6, Preston Mayberry 6, Conner Bowman 5, Wyatt Grothe 5, Blake Holt 3, Nathan Houston 2
DeKalb County (47): Conner Close 13, Alex Antoniak 6, Ean Jones 6, Robert Wheeler 6, Seth Fuson 6, Zack Birmingham 3, Kaleb Spears 3, Jon Hendrik 3, Elishah Ramos 1
