Hurricane Squads Defeat Jackson
The Monticello Hurricane boys varsity basketball squad earned two road wins over the weekend by downing Spartanburg Christian Academy and Jackson as they now gear up for the first region competition of the season against the 2017 8AA region champions.
On Friday, the varsity boys were the only varsity squad to compete as the junior varsity girls joined them in action. The Canes came away with a 63-57 victory over the Warriors on the road in Spartanburg, S.C. Ashton Bonner led the team in points with 17. Malik Crawford earned a double-double with 15 points and 17 rebounds. De’Ivion Lawrence added 11 points.
When the squad traveled to Jackson on Saturday, they triumphed over the Red Devils 57-48. Bonner again scored 17 points to be lead scorer. Like Crawford the night before, Lawrence earned a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Varsity boys head coach Chris Pennamon is prepping the team for its first region contest this season as they travel to Banks County tomorrow, Dec. 8.
“We travel to Banks County on Friday night to kick-off region play. They (Banks) are ranked #2 in the state and will be a great measuring stick to see where we match up with the states’ best as well as the best in our region at this time,” noted the coach.
He went to say, “They dominated the region last year sweeping us in the regular season as well bas eating us in the Region Championship. Banks returns several starters and has an extreme height advantage, so we will have to come ready to play if we want to be able to compete. They have averaged 75 points a game for their first three contests. So we will definitely have to play some good defense to hold them under their average if we want to compete. Again it will be a good test for us to see where we are at this early stage of the season.”
The Lady Canes defeated the Lady Red Devils 58-50 on Saturday. Madison Abbott added to her high school career point total with 17 points and contributing seven steals. Mackenzie Abbott added 14 points and six rebounds to the steam statistics. Alicia Tripp earned a double-double like two of her Canes’ counterparts by scoring 10 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Mackenzie Tripp, who is back from the injury reserve list added six points .
“The girls played really well against Jackson. Our point guard, Mackenzie Tripp, is back from her shoulder injury. We will spend this week getting prepared for our first region game,“ said girls varsity head coach Shakerria Middlebrooks.
While the varsity Lady Canes did not play at Spartanburg Christian Aca-demy the junior varsity ladies did compete. The JV ladies were defeated with Halie Tripp scoring nine points, Bailey Jenkins adding 4, and Makya West, 3.
The JV ladies also competed against the Red Devils and earned a victory. India Thomas led the team in points with 13, Dasia Smith scored five, and Kishawna Hardwick had three.
The varsity and JV squads will travel to Banks County, tomorrow for action that starts at 4:30 p.m.. On Saturday, Dec. 9 the varsity boys only will play Landmark Christian on the road at noon. The squads will host Thomson, Tuesday, Dec. 12 beginning at 4:30 p.m.