By Michael Lindsay
The Stone Memorial Panthers and Lady Panthers opened their seasons with wins Tuesday evening as they swept their matchup at Concord Christian. The girls won 72-32 while the boys earned an 84-63 victory behind 51 points from Cade Capps.
Boys
Cade Capps’ junior season started with a bang Tuesday as the combo guard scored a school-record 51 points in an 84-63 victory over Concord Christian.
“I was getting to all my spots and my teammates did a good job of getting me the ball,” Capps said. “I was making some pull-up shots and some three-pointers. I worked a lot in the offseason to make more tough shots.”
Capps hit 4 three-pointers and was a perfect 9-9 from the free throw line en route to 51 points.
“He was able to score at all three levels,” said Panther head coach Neil Capps. “When you’re able to get going at each level, you really make the defense have to guard you a long way out.
“They (Concord) are a very good team,” coach Capps added. “They’re athletic and shoot it well with a 6’11”, 270 lbs guy in the paint. We had a tough matchup and just got our football players back.”
Stone Memorial held an 18-12 lead after one quarter before Concord Christian battled back within 2 points at halftime as the Panthers led 41-39 at the break. Capps had 27 points through two quarters.
“We were sluggish in the first half and Cade made some big shots for us,” coach Capps said. “It’s nice to have somebody that can go get a bucket in that situation. We were up 2 at the half and made some adjustments. The kids came out in the second half and played much better. We had 10 guys score and it was a good team win. I was really tickled all around with the whole team tonight.”
The Panthers locked in defensively in the third quarter as they outscored the Lions 27-11 in the frame to take a 68-50 lead entering the fourth. Capps had 40 points through three quarters.
“I kind of knew where I was,” Cade Capps said. “I had around 27 at the half and was feeling pretty good. My teammates kept finding me. We got some of them involved in the third quarter; I had double teams coming at me and they made plays. Credit to my teammates.”
Stone Memorial closed out in the final period to secure their 84-63 victory. Capps posted 24 second-half points for a total of 51. Braiden Elliot had 9 points for the Panthers along with 6 from Wyatt Grothe.
Up next, the 1-0 Panthers are set to face Alcoa and The King’s Academy Saturday morning at Webb School of Knoxville.
Girls
The Stone Memorial Lady Panthers opened their 2023-’24 season on the right foot Tuesday as they won at Concord Christian, 72-32.
“I was really pleased with the first road trip of the year,” said Panther head coach Mike Buck. “For us to be able to go into somebody else’s gym and impose our will was good. Concord is still young in their program right now.”
Stone Memorial was led by junior forward Kortney Headrick, who scored 18 points on 9-12 shooting and grabbed 5 rebounds. Junior point guard Adison Howard posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists on 6-7 shooting. Also scoring in double-figures were Ashley Whittenburg with 14 and Kailee Waldo with 11.
“Kortney scored the ball well,” Bucks said. “We had 4 in double-figures so it was good to stretch the ball around.”
Stone Memorial controlled the game from the jump as they led 26-10 after one quarter and 45-14 at halftime.
“They tried to press us and we did a good job at handling that,” Buck said. “In transition we made good decisions and we were able to stay focused defensively.”
The second half was all Stone as they went on to win 72-32.
The 1-0 Lady Panthers will take the court next on Friday as they host Cleveland in a girls-only contest at 6 p.m.
