Published: November 19, 2008 12:53 pm      

Crowder sweeps Stonewall

Crowder at Stonewall

Stonewall — Crowder star Alex Tucker made sure the Stonewall Lady Longhorns wouldn’t pull off an upset on this night.

Tucker hit 10 of her first 12 field goals and scored a game-high 25 points to help the high-powered Demonettes stifle Stonewall 55-37 Tuesday night inside the Murphy-Roberts Gymnasium.

Crowder, ranked No. 2 in the 2009 Oklahoma Tipoff Magazine, stayed unbeaten at 4-0 on the year while head coach Christie Jennings saw her young squad fall to 2-2.

“We were showing our immaturity. Even some of my older kids wouldn’t settle down,” Jennings said.

It was a similar story in the boys game as No. 18 Crowder led by just three at halftime before pulling away for a 54-43 win.

GIRLS

Crowder 55, Stonewall 37

The Demonettes were a little off their game in the opening two quarters, committing 14 first-half turnovers. But Stonewall couldn’t take advantage of many of the miscues thanks in part to 12 turnovers of their own by intermission and the Lady Longhorns found themselves trailing 27-17 at the break.

“I thought for two quarters it was the ugliest game either team had ever seen. It was crazy,” Jennings said. “They gave us a lot of chances to stay in the ballgame.”

Stonewall trailed just 33-21 at the 5:29 mark of the third quarter, but after head coach Kolby Johnson called time out, the Demonettes ended the frame with a 13-2 run that pushed their lead to 46-23 heading into the final eight minutes. Tucker had nine points in the third quarter and also finished the game with five steals.

“Alex took control of the game. She’s a great player. I saw that in the state tournament last year,” Jennings said.

Tucker was the only one in double digits for the Demonettes, but four members of her supporting cast had at least six points. Hillary and Heather Konsure combined for 13 points and 14 rebounds for the visitors.

Shelby Lackey, still playing with a bum shoulder, scored a hard-earned 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Stonewall.

“She was a warrior tonight. I was really proud of her. She’s so hard-headed. I really wanted to sit her in the fourth quarter but she would have been mad at me,” Jennings said. “She battled. That’s the hardest she’s played all year. I just hope she can do that again Friday (at Tupelo).”

Sophomore Mindy Holland scored Stonewall’s first two field goals of the game, but after missing her third try didn’t attempt another shot. She went 4-of-4 from the free throw line to finish with eight points.

“We were scoring in the post. I don’t know why we quit going there. Mindy scored those two baskets early and Shelby was getting looks. Their pressure kind of got us out of our game plan,” Jennings said.

The Lady Longhorns hit just 2-of-17 3-point shots in the contest and finished with 21 turnovers. Crowder had just four turnovers after halftime.

Area fans will get another chance to see the Demonettes next month at the 32nd edition of the Bertha Frank Teague Mid-America Classic which runs Dec. 29-31 inside East Central University’s Kerr Activities Center.

“I thought they were pretty good once they settled down. They shoot it better than us, and they just have so many shooters and so many weapons, it’s hard to stop them,” Jennings said.

BOYS

Crowder 54, Stonewall 43

During the slow-paced first half, Stonewall actually ran out to leads of 14-8 and 17-13. But the Longhorns hit a second-quarter dry spell and managed just three points over the final 4:32 before halftime and trailed 23-20 at the break.

After a Josh Scribner 3-pointer late in the third quarter, Stonewall trailed 39-30 but the Demons finally too control by scoring 11 unanswered points to expand their lead to 50-30 with 6:41 to play.

“I was pleased just being down by three at the half. But in the second half we just came out and took some bad shots ... and defensively we just gave up too many easy baskets. It just didn’t seem like we matched their intensity and that’s happened two nights in a row and that’s just something we’re going to have to fix.”

Scribner led all scorers with a game-high 20 points to go with five rebounds and three steals for Stonewall (1-3). Cat-quick guard Malcolm Casey added 10 points but scored just two after halftime.

“We’re going to have to get some more scoring from somebody besides Josh because people just collapse in on him,” Moreland said.

Tim Lawson and Trey Karr, Crowder’s only returning starters from a state tournament team a year ago, led the Demons with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Karr muscled his way inside the paint for a game-high 12 rebounds. Kalib Swboni added nine points and 10 boards for Crowder (3-1).