Jan 26, 2008
Defensive efforts lift Knights; McMinn within four of 2,000
| North Henderson's Morgan McMinn is caught between West Henderson's Erica Cantrell and Brittany Fennell. MIKE DIRKS/TIMES-NEWS |  |
Times-News Staff Writer
Behind stifling defensive efforts on Friday, two teams North Henderson's boys -- collected their first Western Athletic Conference wins of the season at North's Tom Pryor gymnasium."You start out 0-3 and you want to get that first one -- you don't care who it's against," North coach Skip Taylor said. "That's a pretty big rivalry for us. It's an extremely big win."Chris VanLandingham scored a game-high 35 points and had six assists in a 55-49 Knight (6-10, 1-3 WAC) win.
Two nights after drilling nine 3-pointers to knock off No. 1 Smoky Mountain, the Falcons hit five against North."I'm not surprised at all," said West coach Rob Bliss. "We've done it all year. We can't follow a big win for whatever reason. I felt like the difference in the game was our lack of offensive intensity and execution."Zach Corliss scored 20 points to lead the Falcons while center Dallas Ducote added 11 points and six rebounds."We tried to emphasis guarding Corliss, but he's an awfully good player," Taylor said. "You can't really shut him down."Daniel Hyatt (three points) is one of their not-so-secret weapons. He can really shoot the 3 so we emphasized not letting him get a shot off."VanLandingham managed his 35 points, one below his season average, despite the Falcons sending double teams at him most of the night."You know he's going to shoot it so you try to make somebody else shoot it," Bliss said. "For the most part I thought we did. He went to the line a lot and when you get to go to line, these things happen."North hit 22-of-26 from the line with VanLandingham hitting 16-of-18. Ethan Pressley scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Knights who never trailed after the first quarter.Both schools return to action against Brevard. West will host the Blue Devils on Tuesday. North travels to Brevard on Wednesday.
Summary
WEST HENDERSON (49) -- Roberts, James 5, Troutman 2, Corliss 20, Barbour 4, Staggs, Thomas, Hutchinson 4, Ducote 11, Hyatt 3.NORTH HENDERSON (55) -- Singletary 5, VanLandingham 35, Buckner 4, Pruitt, Searcy, Pressley 11, Lolley, Brown.Halftime: North, 26-23.
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