January 28 was a red letter day for French Camp basketball with the boys and girls teams both pulling off upsets on the road against Ethel.
The Ethel boys team entered the game in first place in Region 5-1A with a 7-0 region record and the Lady Tigers were tied for second at 5-2. The Lady Panthers won 57-48 and the Panthers 53-48.
Girls coach Poly LeVert said it was her team’s best game of the season. “We did a good job handling their pressure.”
Abby Robertson led French Camp with a season best 18 points, including three 3-pointers. Jordan Carter had 17 points and 16 rebounds and Jasmine Bonty14 points and 12 rebounds.
C.J. Johnson had a big game offensively for the Panthers against Ethel with 28 points, but coach Robert Leathers gave much of the credit to two other players. “I had two guys who came off the bench and played well – Adam Atkins and Zach Williams. They did a really nice job on the defensive end. They brought a lot of energy onto the court.”
He added “Ethel got into some foul trouble which really helped us.”
When the teams met Jan. 10 at French Camp, Ethel won the boys game 50-40 and the girls game 38-36.
The victories left both French Camp teams 4-4 in region play prior to Tuesday games at McAdams. The Panthers and Lady Panthers will close out the regular season with home games Friday against Nanih Waiya. McAdams and Nanih Waiya are both region opponents,
The region tournament will be next week at McAdams. Who the French Camp teams play and when will be determined by this week's games.
French Camp also had non-region games last week with Sebastopol. The girls won 41-35, but the boys were defeated 62-38.
The same threesome led the Lady Panthers. Bonty had 16 points and 16 rebounds, Carter 13 points and Robertson 10 points.
“We're seemingly beginning to peak at the right time. I hope that's the case,” LeVert said.
Leathers said it was tough for the Panthers to match up with Sebastopol's size. “They're big. They're 6-4, 6-5 across the front line. Four of the starting five are 6-2 or better.”
Sebastopol broke the game open by outscoring French Camp 16-2 in the second quarter for a 33-13 halftime lead.
Despite the loss, Leathers said Johnson and Darrion Smith, both juniors, played well. Smith scored 14 points and Johnson 11.
Johnson picked up his fourth foul in the second quarter, but was able to play the entire second half without fouling out.
Leathers said Smith has shown significant improvement during the season. “For most of the coaches in the district, if there's one player they are going to talk about, its number 2 (Smith). He's a kid who doesn't know how good he can be.”
Grace Christian boys win twice
The Grace Christian boys basketball team won twice last week against teams that defeated the Eagles earlier in the season. Grace Christian beat Victory Christian Academy of Columbus 65-55 and Starkville Christian 40-37.
“Two gutsy wins. We are fighting harder in the big moments and figuring out ways to win games we couldn't win earlier in the season,” said coach Jason Morgan.
After staring 4-11, the Eagles have won 12 of 15 to improve to 16-14.
Bonner Brownlee led Grace Christian to the two wins. He had 27 points and six rebounds against Victory Christian and 24 and four in the Starkville Christian game. Jacob Phillips had 16 points and eight rebounds against Victory Christian, Jacob Hogue eight points and nine rebounds against Starkville Christian.
The Eagles played Delta Streets Academy of Greenwood Tuesday.
GIRLS
The Lady Eagles defeated Victory Christian 37-33, but lost to Starkville Christian 47-29.
“We always stayed ahead and we stayed in control,” coach Talor Troyer said of the win over Victory Christian. “Toward the end, they got within three points as a result of us not blocking out. But we did what we needed to do and they never took the lead.”
Carly Peterson and Aspen Harris both scored 12 points for Grace Christian.
A bad first quarter that saw Grace Christian commit 11 turnovers and fall behind 16-2 doomed the Lady Eagles against Starkville Christian. “They scored on almost every turnover,” Troyer said. “That first quarter was the ugliest basketball we have played all year,”
Caroline Robbin scored 14 points for Grace Christian.
The Eagles and Lady Eagles will complete the season at the Grace Christian School Invitational Tournament Friday and Saturday, beginning with games against Meridian Home School Friday.
