Sports

COLD SECOND HALF DOOMS ZEBRAS

By Sean Saunders/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 12:01 AM CST

Pine Bluff coach Ron Moragne said he could feel a run coming out of the locker room at halftime. But he got anything but that Monday.

The Zebras scored one point in the third quarter as the Cabot Panthers pulled away for a 49-43 victory at McFadden Gym.

“I thought that we would make a run at the beginning of the third quarter,” Moragne said. “I felt like we had them right where we wanted them in the ballgame, but we couldn’t buy a basket. We only scored (one point) in the third quarter, and we were fortunate enough to be as close as we were at the end of it.”

Cabot (2-0) only scored four points in the third quarter, as the two teams combined to shoot 1-of-10 from the field. But the Panthers went off for 20 points in the fourth quarter on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor and 9-of-11 from the foul line, including a perfect 8-of-8 on their final free-throw attempts.

“Both teams couldn’t hit anything in the third quarter, so I thought our defenses were doing fine, but we were missing a lot of good shots,” Cabot coach Jerry Bridges said. “We did warm up a little bit in the fourth quarter, and I’m proud of the way my guys finished down the stretch. That was the game right there. If we missed those free throws, Pine Bluff gets right back in the game.”

Pine Bluff (0-2) had 11 third-quarter possessions and the results were 0-of-5 from the field, 1-of-4 at the foul line and five turnovers. The Zebras finished the second half 7-of-19 from the field.

“We stopped attacking the basket,” Moragne said. “I don’t know if we got tired or what, but we just stopped attacking. Our guards weren’t getting to the basket, and I think our post men got a little frustrated with our guards because they tried to make some passes inside but they just missed them.”

The Zebras also had no answer for Cabot post Christian Armstrong. Armstrong scored nine points in the second quarter to erase a one-point deficit after the first and followed that with 10 points in the fourth to finish with a game-high 21.

“If he were 6-6 or 6-7, he’d be an animal inside, but I thought that they had a tough time of matching up with him inside in the first half,” Bridges said. “I’m proud of my guys for realizing that and doing what I said. We wanted him to get touches in the second half, and he did do that.”

Pine Bluff hung around in the first half by holding a shooting and rebounding edge. The Zebras outrebounded Cabot 15-7 in the first 16 minutes while shooting 53 percent from the floor, but the Panthers reduced that deficit in the second half while Pine Bluff’s shooting percentage dropped significantly.

“A lot of that is just inexperience,” Moragne said. “We’ve got a kid playing in the middle who has never played basketball in his life. This is the first time he’s ever been on the basketball court period, so it’s just inexperience. He’s never been in that situation before.”

Pine Bluff was led in scoring by Jarvis Fisher, who had 14 points mostly off four 3-pointers. D.K. Bradley had nine points, all in the fourth quarter.

Cabot only had four plays score, with Alex Baker tallying 13 points.

Pine Bluff plays Charleston, Mo., in a tournament Friday at New Madrid, Mo.

Cabot 63,

Pine Bluff 53

The Fillies shot more than 50 percent from the field through the first three quarters to only trail Cabot 43-39 heading into the final period. But they went cold in the fourth to let the Lady Panthers pull away for a road victory on Monday.

Pine Bluff (3-1) was 61 percent from the field heading into the fourth quarter, but the shots stopped falling. The Fillies made only 6 of 18 attempts from the floor in the fourth.

While Pine Bluff’s field goals went in for the most part in the first half, its free throws did the opposite. The Fillies were 1-of-10 at the foul line in the first 16 minutes.

“The first half was horrible,” Pine Bluff coach Loy Moore said. “We’re not going to beat anybody doing that. It’s just something we’re going to have to work on and get better at.”

Pine Bluff got most of its scoring from two sources. Shonda Bradley led the way with 19 points while Gabrielle Grady had 18.

Cabot got 22 points each from the guard duo of Brooke Taylor and Amber Rock, with Rock scoring 11 in the fourth quarter on 8 of 8 free throws. The Lady Panthers also had an inside presence with Melissa Wolf coming up with 11 points, 11 rebounds and eight steals.

The Fillies resume action next Monday when they participate in a tournament at Searcy.

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