Calvin upsets Vanoss

Jeff Cali Sports Editor

Vanoss December 03, 2008 01:28 pm

— Earlier this season, Vanoss boys coach Jason Fulks predicted the Calvin Bulldogs would pull off an upset or two during Pontotoc Conference play. But after beating Calvin by 23 points on its own home court, he couldn't have imagined it would be his Wolves that would fall victim to the upset.
Calvin's Neal Hassler hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer — that hit the rim, bounced high off the backboard and then fell straight through the net — with 21 seconds remaining in overtime to help the seventh-seeded Bulldogs stun the second-seeded Wolves 56-52 Tuesday night during the first round of the 2008 Pontotoc Conference Tournament held inside the Kenneth D. Memorial Fieldhouse.
“That was huge for us. It’s probably the biggest win these boys have ever had,” said first-year Calvin coach Michael Arnold. “They just stepped up and pulled through.”
Calvin (4-3) advances to meet Stonewall in the 9 p.m. semifinal contest Friday night while Vanoss (4-2) heads to the consolation side of the bracket and will meet Allen Wednesday at 6:20 p.m.
“They beat us real soundly the first time we played and I thought I did a poor job coaching. I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been,” Arnold explained. “What I did over the holiday break ... and I drove my family crazy ... is I watched that Vanoss video over and over and over again. The biggest difference from tonight and the last time we played them was game preparation. We prepared and prepared and prepared. We scrimmaged twice over the break and pretended the other teams were Vanoss.”
Not to be outdone, the Roff Lady Tigers got a huge game from freshman NaTosha Logsdon, including six big points in overtime, and startled Allen 50-47 in a mild tournament upset.
No. 5 seed Roff (3-4) will be an even bigger underdog Thursday when it battled top-seeded Stonewall in a 7:40 p.m. semifinal game. Allen (2-1) and Asher will meet in a loser-out game Wednesday at 7:40 p.m.
In another entertaining first-round contest, Tupelo's Trevor Walkup drained a pair of clutch 3-pointers — the only ones by either team in the contest — in the fourth quarter to help the Tigers turn back Asher 40-37.
Tupelo (3-4) will battle top-seeded Roff Friday in a 7:30 p.m. semifinal matchup while Asher (4-3) plays Wanette Wednesday at 9 p.m.
And in the first game on Tuesday, the Vanoss Lady Wolves got just two points (on a fourth-quarter putback) from senior leader Stefani Burk but still managed to blow past Calvin 70-26. The host Lady Wolves advanced to take on Tupelo in a 9 p.m. Thursday night semifinal contest while Calvin (0-7) meets Wanette Wednesday at 5 p.m.
BOYS
Calvin 56, Vanoss 52 (OT)
The Bulldogs nearly pulled off the upset in regulation, but Seth Wulfert swished a 3-pointer from near NBA range with 22 seconds left that tied the game at 48-48. Both teams missed opportunities in the closing moments of the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs did very little to slow down Vanoss senior Kendal Curtis, who scored the Wolves' first four points in overtime to help VHS keep pace with Calvin. Curtis finished with a game-high 33 points, 29 of which came after halftime.
“Their No. 11 (Curtis) is a tremendous ball player and so we were going to double him and let the other guys try to beat us and that’s really all we did. We shut him down until halftime but we got into foul trouble and we couldn’t really body him. But he’s a good ball player. You can only shut a guy down like that for so long,” Arnold said.
Just 17 seconds after Curtis had tied the game at 52 with a sweet kiss off the glass, Hassler spotted up for his 3-pointer that clanged off the rim and the backboard before finding its way into the net. Hassler led Calvin with 20 points while Kaleb Blaylock scored 15, well below his season average, before fouling out with 2:26 left in regulation.
Vanoss had to overcome an ice-cold second quarter that allowed Calvin to grab a nine-point halftime lead. After Wulfert hit a 3-pointer to put Vanoss on top 13-12, the Bulldogs scored 12 straight to build their biggest lead of the game at 24-13. But Dakota Bolin scored on a putback at the buzzer to make it 24-15 at the break.
Curtis scored all 10 of the Wolves' third-quarter points.
Colby Impson added 10 points for the Bulldogs, including five in the OT session.
Vanoss was without the services of key reserves Ryan Postoak, who scored 19 points in a loss to Latta last week but suffered a broken thumb during that contest and will miss at least four weeks of action, and Nick Trivitt, who was at home with the flu.
Tupelo 40, Asher 37
Walkup's first fourth-quarter triple gave Tupelo a 30-26 lead and after Asher had trimmed its deficit to 31-30, he drained another one to push the THS advantage back to four at 34-30 with 2:45 left. Jeremy Stein followed with a layup, giving Tupelo it's biggest lead of the night at 36-30.
Tupelo was able to keep Asher at bay from the charity stripe, where Stein had three makes down the stretch. He would finish with 15 points, six assists and three steals to pace the Tigers.
Both teams struggled in the opening two quarters as Asher settled for a 14-11 lead at halftime. The Tigers hit just 5-of-21 field goals through the first 16 minutes and the Indians weren't much better.
Matt Johnson led the Asher offense with 13 points while Derek Claytor followed with 10. Tupelo got eight points from Nathan Hogue.
GIRLS
Roff 50, Allen 47 (OT)
After senior post player Spencer Phillips fouled out with 2:55 left in regulation, Logsdon took over down low for Roff. She hit a jumper from the left elbow after taking an inbounds pass with 31 seconds left to give the Lady Tigers a 39-37 lead with 31 seconds left in the fourth quarter but Roff couldn't shake a bad case of the Coodys. Amber Coody's putback with just three ticks left sent the game to overtime. She and sister Chelsea Coody were thorns in Roff's side all night as the pair combined for 22 points.
But it was Logsdon that stole the show in OT, converting a three-point play to put Roff ahead 44-43 and after a long jumper by Allen's Chelsea Hill, hit a tough shot in the paint to give her team the lead for good.
Jodie Byers drained a big 3-pointer from the corner with just 26 seconds left in overtime that put Roff up by four at 49-45 and helped seal Allen's fate. Byers finished with 15 points while Logsdon followed with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Vanoss 70, Calvin 26
After the game was tied at 5-5 early, Vanoss used a 17-4 surge to blaze to a 22-9 advantage and never looked back.
The Lady Wolves used a dominant 24-4 third-quarter surge to take a 56-19 lead into the final eight minutes.
Logan Anderson led the potent Vanoss offense with 19 points while freshman Gage Parker had another strong game for the hosts with 12. Nikki Hawley also scored 12 for the Lady Wolves.
Molly Faulkner's eight points paced Calvin.

PONTOTOC CONFERENCE BOXES

Tuesday's Games
GIRLS
Pontotoc Conference Tournament
At Vanoss
First Round
Vanoss 70, Calvin 26
VANOSS 19 13 24 14 — 70
CALVIN 9 6 4 7 — 26
VANOSS: Logan Anderson 19, Gage Parker 12, Nikki Hawley 12, Katie Priest 9, Beth Brewer 6, Madison Oliver 4, Layni Cantwell 4, Dakota Phillips 2, Stefani Burk 2.
CALVIN: Molly Faulkner 8, Heather Jones 6, Courtney Nolen 5, Holly Jones 4, Katie Rogers 2, Candi McDaniel 1.
3-point goals: Hawley 2, Anderson (V); Heather Jones 2, Nolen, Faulkner (C).
Fouled out: None.

First Round
Roff 50, Allen 47 (OT)
ROFF 9 13 8 9 11 — 50
ALLEN 7 11 10 11 8 — 47
ROFF: Jodie Byers 15,NaTosha Logsdon 11, J.J. Stewart 9, Spencer Phillips 6, Otakahe Smith 5, Catie Tolliver 2, Tyla Truett 2.
ALLEN: Amber Coody 12, Chelsea Coody 10, Ashton Dennis 7, Jordyn Mills 7, Chelsea Hill 5, Brandie Horton 2, Marissa Prentice 2, Danli Mills 2.
3-point goals: Byers 3, Stewart (R); Jordyn Mills, Amber Coody (A).
Fouled out: Phillips (R).

BOYS
Pontotoc Conference Tournament
At Vanoss
First Round
Calvin 56, Vanoss 52 (OT)
VANOSS 10 5 10 23 4 — 52
CALVIN 9 15 6 18 8 — 56
VANOSS: Kendall Curtis 33, Seth Wulfert 9, Dakota Bolin 4, Zack Scoggin 3, Dexter Preist 2, Michael Hayes 1.
CALVIN: Neal Hassler 20, Kaleb Blaylock 15, Colby Impson 10, Homer Madden 8, Vincent Wolf 3.
3-point goals: Wulfert 3 (V); Hassler 4, Blaylock (C).
Fouled out: Casey Henry, Wulfert (V); Blaylock (C).

First Round
Tupelo 40, Asher 37
TUPELO 6 5 16 13 — 40
ASHER 4 10 12 11 — 37
TUPELO: Jeremy Stein 15, Nathan Hogue 8, Dakota Ingram 6, Trevor Walkup 6, Trey Roberson 4, Jake Sanders 1.
ASHER: Matt Johnson 13, Derek Claytor 10, Tanner Fowler 8, Wade Goodgion 2, Damian Doshier 2, Dakota Magby 2.
3-point goals: Walkup 2 (T).
Fouled Out: None.

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