By Michael Lindsay
Stone Memorial and Livingston Academy split a pair of District 7-3A contests Friday evening in Crossville as the Lady Wildcats defeated Stone Memorial 61-52 followed by a 65-58 victory by the Panther boys.
Girls
Livingston Academy improved to 2-1 overall in District 7-3A Friday evening as they picked up a victory at Stone Memorial, 61-52.
Junior guard Ellie Butler scored 19 points to lead the Lady Wildcats along with 12 points on four three-pointers from Mallie Carwile and 11 points by point guard Mallie-Gene Coleman. Forwards Kailee Waldo and Rachel Houston scored 11 points each to lead Stone Memorial along with 10 by Kortney Headrick.
The Lady Wildcats took control early as a Carwile three-pointer with 2:01 remaining in the first quarter gave Livingston a 15-5 advantage. Stone Memorial battled back to a four-point deficit at 15-11 entering the second quarter.
A Lily Hinch three-pointer cut Stone Memorial’s deficit to two points (18-16) with 5:38 left until halftime. Livingston withstood the run and pushed their lead back to eight points (26-18) via a pair of Butler free throws with 2:04 left in the second quarter.
A pair of Coleman free throws with 18.8 seconds left put LA ahead by double digits at halftime, 28-18.
Stone Memorial trimmed their deficit to 6 midway through the third quarter as a Waldo backdoor cut for a layup made the score 36-30 with 3:40 remaining in the frame. Livingston’s Mya Dailey answered with a corner three-pointer to push her team’s lead back to double-digits at 39-30.
A pair of three-pointers from Carwile and Coleman late in the third extended Livingston’s advantage to 47-35 entering the fourth quarter.
Stone Memorial again cut the Lady Wildcat lead to two possessions in the final peirod as a Houston three-pointer with 5:17 remaining cut LA’s advantage to 49-43.
A pair of Jenkins free throws on the ensuing possession extended Livingston’s lead back to three possessions at 51-43.
Livingston Academy held at least a three-possession lead over the final 4:30 as they went on to win by a 61-52 final score.
The Lady Wildcats improve to 14-6 overall and 2-1 in District 7-3A while Stone Memorial falls to 8-10 and 1-2.
Upperman sits alone atop the district standings at 3-0 in league play followed by Livingston and White County tied in second at 2-1. Cumberland County and Stone Memorial are tied in fourth at 1-2 while DeKalb County is in sixth at 0-3.
Up next for Livingston is a home contest against DeKalb County on Tuesday while Stone Memorial travels across town to Cumberland County.
Livingston Academy (61): Ellie Butler 19, Mallie Carwile 12, Mallie-Gene Coleman 11, Chloe Jenkins 9, Keely Mullins 7, Mya Dailey 3
Stone Memorial (52): Kailee Waldo 11, Rachel Houston 11, Kortney Headrick 10, Adison Howard 9, Lily Hinch 6, Ashley Whittenburg 5
Boys
Stone Memorial got back in the win column Friday as they defeated Livingston Academy in District 7-3A play, 65-58.
“Livingston’s a very good team and they’re obviously well-coached,” said Stone Memorial head coach Neil Capps. “They’re going to be a miserable matchup as the season goes on. I’m tickled with how we played; they (Livingston) shot it really well tonight.”
Stone Memorial junior guard Cade Capps led all scorers with 29 points.
“He’s getting a lot of defensive attention, and we’ve been talking to him about not forcing stuff and can play through his teammates,” said coach Capps. “We had some really nice minutes from some guys tonight. He’s obviously our leader in terms of scoring the basketball, and he pulled some big rebounds and created some turnovers late.”
The Panthers opened Friday’s game hot from three-point range as they made four treys in the opening minute to lead 12-5. Stone Memorial took a 5-point advantage into the second quarter as they led 18-13.
Stone Memorial led by as many as 8 points (26-18) in the second period before Livingston battled back within a point by halftime as a Daniel Bilbrey buzzer-beating floater made the score 30-29 at the break.
Cole Harris gave Livingston their first lead of the game with 5:42 remaining in the third quarter as a three-pointer put the Wildcats ahead 37-34.
Neither team held more than a one-possession lead through the first 6:30 of the third quarter until a Capps basket gave Stone Memorial a 46-42 advantage. The Panthers held a 47-44 lead entering the final frame.
Livingston Academy trimmed their deficit to one point on the first possession of the fourth quarter as a Wyatt Hargis basket made the score 47-46, still in favor of the Panthers.
The teams traded baskets until a stop and and-one finish from Cade Capps gave the Panthers a 54-48 lead with 4:08 to go. Livingston battled back within one possession (57-54) via a Harris layup with 1:42 remaining, but got no closer as Stone Memorial closed the game out from the free-throw line to win by a 65-58 final score.
“We were really loose with it in the first two quarters and had so many turnovers,” coach Capps said. “In the fourth quarter, you’d think it would get worse, but we cleaned it up and were more detailed with the ball.”
Stone Memorial improves to 12-7 overall and 2-1 in District 7-3A action while Livingston Academy falls to 12-9 and 1-2. Stone Memorial is scheduled to travel across town to Cumberland County on Tuesday while Livingston Academy hosts DeKalb County.
Stone Memorial (65): Cade Capps 29, Brady Lane 14, Wyatt Grothe 9, Braiden Elliot 7, Preston Mayberry 3, Kadyn Page 2, Spencer Bowman 1
Livingston Academy (58): Tucker Miller 13, Wyatt Hargis 13, Cole Harris 12, Daniel Bilbrey 10, Brodey Coffee 8, Rocco Carwile 2
