By By Richard Dark/The Meridian Star
Dec. 6, 2000
BUTLER, Ala. For the Patrician Academy Saints, it was simply a matter of too little, too late.
The Saints hosted area rival Sumter Academy and even though both teams experienced shooting woes, Sumter had just enough to hold off a late rally, to take care of business, 55-50.
Despite the slow offensive start early on for both teams, things seemed to be going OK for the Saints (2-3) who led for the first 12 minutes of the game until Eagle post player John Upchurch put back a miss to give SA (3-2) a 16-14 lead with four minutes to go in the first half that it would not relinquish.
Upchurch torched the Saints with his inside presence, scoring 22 points.
The Saints, down by three at the half, cut it to one, 55 seconds into the third quarter, but it was as close as they got the rest of the way, as the Eagles soared, fueled by three pointers from Joseph Hoggle, who finished with 14 points, to embark on a 23-7 run that bridged the final two quarters to gain control of the contest.
Patrician came back to make it interesting with a 9-0 run of its own, courtesy of baskets from Justin Irvin, who paced PA with an all-around game of six points, nine rebounds, five steals and six assists.
Jordan May was the leading scorer for the Saints with 14 points.
John David Cornelson and Steven Charlton chipped in with 11 each. Cornelson back-to-back baskets cut the home team's deficit to 53-50 before Hoggle's two free throws in the closing seconds settled the issue.
Sumter Academy girls 52, Patrician 44: The Lady Eagles jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead and it proved to be the difference, as they were able to hold off a scrappy Lady Saints squad in the closing minutes for their third straight win.
They did indeed, as SA (4-1) handed the Lady Saints (4-1) their first loss of the season, despite an 11-2 Patrician run in the final frame that pulled them to within 45-40 with 2:13 left.
Sumter stayed afloat behind Kate Cartwright's 22 points. Amanda Chambliss added 18 and six boards. J.J. Cook had 12 points and Jess Watkins had six points and seven steals, which helped to stave off comebacks by PA.
Brooke Dobbins led Patrician with 14 points and Stephanie Guinn chipped in with 11. Each team committed 20 fouls each.
Richard Dark is a sports writer for the Meridian Star. E-mail him at rdark@themeridianstar.com.