Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Wolves dig selves out of hole for win against Ashdown

Prescott's senior boys blew an 18-0 first quarter lead and had to come back for a 65-64 win against Ashdown.

On Tuesday, Jan. 27, the Wolves hosted the Panthers, with Prescott having its way for the first six minutes of the opening quarter. During this time, the Wolves built an 18-0 lead, but were outscored 10-3 in the final two minutes as Ashdown fought back.

For six minutes, though, the Wolves could almost do no wrong, as Prescott players flashed in the lanes stealing passes then racing down court to convert the turnover into points.

Ashdown was cold and unable to buy a bucket in the first minutes of the game. In fact, the Panther's first points came at the charity stripe. But, once the drought was broken, Ashdown started fighting back.

The first quarter ended, however, with Prescott in control 21-10.

The second period was as different from the first as night is from day. The Panthers showed the ability to play basketball and forced Prescott to turn the ball over. Ashdown took advantage of Wolf mistakes and narrowed the gap to five points several times in the frame.

With 5:19 left in the half, Prescott was up 23-18. The Panthers pressed full court, causing turnover after turnover, but were unable to get over the hump to take the lead.

Halftime arrived with the Wolves holding a 33-28 advantage.

As the third period began, neither team could hit anything. Ashdown missed an open lay up, while the Wolves were simply mining iron. However, Prescott did score first at the 6:01 mark.

The Panthers, though, refused to go away and cut Prescott's lead to 35-33 with 5:04 showing.

Prescott managed to maintain the lead until the 2:59 point of the third, when Ashdown went up 42-40 and built this to a 52-48 lead by the end of the frame.

The Panthers built the lead to seven at 58-51 before the Wolves started scrambling back. It was a slow process, but Prescott fought back, cutting the lead to 64-60with 2:33 remaining in the contest, and getting within one at 64-63 with 41 seconds left.

However, the Wolves were forced to foul to prevent Ashdown from simply trying to run out the clock. Sending the Panthers to the line proved to be beneficial for Prescott as free throws wasn't Ashdown's specialty.

Prescott took the lead, 65-64, with 23 seconds to go and withstood a last second shot that bounced off the rim to preserve the win.

Prescott hit seven of 11 at the line, while Ashdown was eight of 12.

Robert Malone was the game's leading scorer with 19 points. Luther Stueart was next with 16, with A.J. Lewis chipping in 10.

Four members of the Panther team scored in double figures. Terio Dansby led with 17, Courtney Jackson and Demond Turner had 13 each, and Dee Williams scored 10.

WOLVERETTES 39

LADY PANTHERS 29

Points were precious in the senior girl's game as neither team shot well from the field because of the defense played by the other squad.

Still, when the smoke cleared, the Wolverettes came away with a 39-29 win.

Ashdown won the opening tip, only to have the ball stolen. However, Prescott missed two free throws after a foul, but still managed to score first.

It was an fast paced game, with both crews moving up and down the court. The only problem was neither could put the ball in the hold consistently.

Period one ended with Prescott holding a 9-2 lead.

The second quarter was an instant replay of the first, as the Wolverettes and Lady Panthers harassed and harangued one another, but neither scored much.

Ashdown, though, did battle back to cut Prescott's lead to 14-12 at the 1:45 mark, only to see the Wolverettes score the final four points in the half to take an 18-12 lead to the lockers at the break.

There was plenty of action in the third, but again scoring came slowly. The Lady Panthers managed to fight back and make a game of it by cutting the lead to 27-25 by the end of three.

It was all Prescott in the fourth quarter as the Wolverettes outscored Ashdown 12-4 to seal the win.

Neither team shot particularly well from the free throw line. Prescott was five of nine, while Ashdown converted three of nine.

Daloris Steuart led all scorers with 16 points for the Wolverettes. Tammy Harris was next with 10.

Sherrell Thomas led Ashdown with eight points.