January 10, 2008
Basketball

By Dave Maxwell

Jadey Jones scored a career high 34 points, mostly in the second half, to lead Alamo to an easy 68-22 win over visiting Calvary Chapel January 5. Jessie Canning had 13 assists and Mary Higbee had nine assists. Loren Leavitt added 10 points for Alamo (14-3).

Amy Huntsman said Calvary just couldn’t match up with her team. “They were trying to play too short of guards on her so we took advantage of the mismatch,” she said. Jadey didn’t play much of the first half, instead spending most of the time trying to get one of her ankles properly taped.

Brian Higbee said the Panther boys were sharp in their 64-39 win over Calvary Chapel. Cody Hosier was a spark plug coming off the bench and contributed 18 points for PVHS. “The kids really bounced back from the loss to Lake Mead. We just weren’t as intimidated and were more aggressive to the rim. And I was really happy with them the way they played defense,” he said. Jared Wadsworth was a strong presence on the floor for the Panthers as well. Cody Hosier had 18 points, Brandon Stirling had 12 and Ryan Hatch had 16. Calvary was led by John Fortich with 15 and Chase Lopez with 11.

When Alamo opened league play with Lake Mead, Jan. 4, Jadey Jones’ 17 points, was nearly half of Alamo’s points, in a 38-18 win over the Lady Eagles. Jessie Canning scored most in the other half with 11 points. Jones also pulled down 17 rebounds.

On the boys side, the same night, neither team played well offensively, but Lake Mead (18-1) still managed a 59-36 win at Alamo to open up the league season for both teams. Eagles coach Jeff Newton said he thought his team played well defensively, if not so good offensively. “Our pressure really bothered them and I thought we rebounded really well, but we didn’t have our fast break going and were not executing in the half court offense.” However, the Eagles outscored the Panthers 19-1 in the second quarter and had a 32-10 halftime lead.

Coach Brian Higbee said he thought the Panthers would handle the Eagles’ pressure defense better than they did. “But we were flat and we let the pressure get to us and got into a frenzy and were looking to just survive in that second quarter. We weren’t able to take care of the ball. And when you turn it over against them, they convert” he said.

Landon Littlefield scored a game high 17 for Lake Mead. The Panthers (8-4) were led in scoring by Ryan Hatch with 12 points.

The Alamo boys won at Lund in non-league action Jan. 8 by a score of 56-42.

The Panthers play host to Mountain View and Trinity this Friday and Saturday. The girls host Pahrump on Jan. 15 and the boys host Pahrump on Jan. 16.