SPORTS The Levy County Journal levyjournalonline.com The County Paper, Est. 1923 Dec. 10, 2009 3B Big first half leads Bell past Chiefland ladies Story and photos by Rick Bumham Editor Unsatisfied with his team's first-half performance ag.inist Bell Monday, Chiefland Head Coach Adam Boyd had a simple request for the Lady Indians in the second half. More hustle. More grit. More determination. The team responded, outscoring their . opponents 25-22 over the final 16 minutes of the game Unfortunately for Chiefland, the first 16 did them in. Olivia Bailey scored 22 points and Reilee Moore another 10 as Bell won 48-37. The Lady ,'Bulldogs never trailed in the game, leading 7-0 early on and 14-6 at the end of the first quarter. ,.Bailey and Moore heated up substantially in the second quarter as the visitors stretched their lead to 26-12 at the intermission. But the Lady Indians came out of the locker room on first, scoring the first six points of the ,third quarter to get to within 26-18. Madalyn 'McCray sank a 10-foot shot, and Janessa ,, Barrios followed with a layup. Jasmine Mitchell then calmly converted two free throws to get her, team to complete the run. Unfortunately, Bell responded, scoring the .next 12 points of the game, including four on back-to-back layups by Moore, and another four on two short shots by Bailey. But Chiefland closed out the quarter on a positive note, scoring the final six points to make it 38-24. Charlene Davis sank a three-point shot and McCray made a layup following a steal at the other end of the court. Amie Biehl made a free throw as the quarter came to a close. Chiefland played with passion in the fourth quarter, and it began with a three-point play by Barrios. The spunky guard stole a Bell pass and ,dribbled the length of the court for a layup and 7 was fouled. The successful free throw made it :38-27. Davis converted two free throws moments later, and McCray added another to make it 40-30. Halie Hammond later made a 10-foot jumper, and McCray followed that up with a shot'under the basket as Bell led 46-34. Chiefland scored the final three points of the game on a Barrios free throw and a layup by -Biehl. Afterward, Boyd' said the message at halftime was simple. Play with some emotion. "That is what we asked of them - more hustle," he said. "They really came out and gave us that in the second half." Turnovers cost the Lady Indians dearly in the first half. That.is a direct result of not having an experienced ball-handler on the roster, Boyd said. "We are working hard to develop one," he said. McCray finished with nine points, while Barrios had eight and Davis seven. C.J. Jack scored five, Biehl three, and Mitchem and Hammond two apiece. Earlier, the Bell ladies' junior varsity led Chiefland by double digits in the first half and then had to fight for their lives, winning 30-27 behind 14 points from Victoria Waldron. The Lady Bulldogs went up 15-4 on a shot by Anna Wilhoit with 5:27 left in the first half, but Chiefland took over from there, scoring 10 of the next 13 points to get to 18-14 at the half. Kierra Jenkins scored six of those points, including two on a 10-foot shot with a minute left in the half to make it 18-10. Aaliyah Hodge hit a shot in the paint and Lashae Blaisdell converted a 12-footer to close out the half. Bell scored the first three points of the second half to extend the advantage to 21-14, but Chiefland scored the next 11 to take a 25- 21 lead. Blaisdell was the big gun for the Lady Indians, hitting a three-pointer at the 5:40 mark of the third quarter, and converting a steal into a layup to make it 25-21 Chiefland. But Waldron got hot, scoring the next five to give Bell a 26-25 lead. She sealed the win with a baseline jumper with 20 seconds left to make it 30-27 Bell. Chiefland's Jasmine Mitchem prepares to shoot as Bell's Preslee Sanders moves in. Chiefland, from Page 1 B Chiefland's M for a layup ir Bell. CMS ari Gr go Bell's James Oslagen presses Chiefl the first half against er during junior varsity action, won b nthe first half against remaining. Steward Greyson's three-pointer with a minute left tied the game at 68. Chiefland went up 70-68 on a 15-footer by Carter, but Bell tied the game again with a layup by Thomas at the 42-second mark. Chiefland had a chance to take a lead with 5.2 seconds remaining, but a free throw S' , attempt by Carter would not fall. Bell never trailed in the extra period, taking a 74-70 lead on two Thomas layups. Chiefland got a late jumper from Carter at the 19-second mark, but Greyson followed with a layup to put the game out of reach. Earlier, the Chiefland junior varsity boys' team trounced Bell 50-24 behind a balanced scoring attack. Eight different players scored points in the game for the Indians, led by Jeremy Fisher with 13 and Robert Haire with 12. Quinton Henry had seven, while Raheem Brown had six. Haire scored six of his points in the first and's Jeremy Fish- quarter as Chiefland built a 13-5 lead. The >y Chiefland, 50-24. Indians increased the advantage to 22-9 at the half, and 35-15 at the end of the third quarter. Braves heat up, rout Williston 62-12 -Story and photos by Rick Bumham Editor With a tenacious defense, the Chiefland Middle School boys' basketball team has the ability to explode for a lot of fast-break points 'off of turnovers. . Thursday against Williston, the explosion ,had a delayed fuse, but it was a big one. The Braves turned a close game into a rout against the Red Devils, producing a 17-4 second-quarter run that paved the way to a 62- 12 victory. Chiefland led by four after the first quarter, courtesy of a long-distance shot by Kyle Weeks with 30 seconds left, putting the Braves up 11- -7. Weeks scored six and Shaquille Patterson five in the frame, while Williston got five from 'Alex Porter and two from Stephen Cochlin. The second quarter was a different matter. The Braves scored the first seven points of the ,quarter, including two on a layup by Deshawn Roland after a steal by Weeks. Patterson and Josh Smith each added layups as Chiefland .built an 18-7 lead. Williston got a basket from DeMarkis Robinson, but Chiefland countered with ,another quick seven - on a couple of shots by *Patterson and buckets by Weeks, Roland and 'Smith. Chiefland led 24-9 with 1:31 left in the 'half. Williston got a free throw and layup from Cochlin, but Chiefland responded with another three-pointer from Weeks with three seconds left to make it 28-12 at the half. As it turned out, Cochlin's points at the end of the first half were his team's final baskets of the game. The Braves (4-0) turned up the defense the rest of the way, limiting a cast of reserves to a handful of shots while scoring seemingly at will at the other end of the court. Weeks scored 11 of his game-high 21 points in the second half. Patterson got four of his 10 points after the intermission, while Khai-Sun Sims scored four of his six points in the second half. Roland and Smith also finished with six points for the Braves, while Gerald Donald had four, Jon Ward three, and Melvin Adams and Tyrigne Allen two apiece. Cochlin and Porter had five apiece for Williston, while Robinson had two. Afterward, Chiefland Head Coach Andy Kidd said the key to his team's success in the game, and so far in the young season, is defense. "Our press worked really well and we got a lot of steals," he said. "I would say that most of our points came off layups off of the steals. We play a real aggressive zone defense, and that was the key to the game." Chiefland's Shaquille Patterson gets past Demarkis Robinson and Malik Hall on the way to the basket. Pat- terson scored 10 points in the game.