Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

PHS Squads Make It To Finals Of Mena Tournament

Prescott's Wolverettes have been on a tear of late.

Tuesday, Dec. 2, they demolished arch rival Gurdon 62-58 as a warm up for their two wins in the first annual Foot of the Mountain Classic in Mena during the weekend.

There was nothing easy about the win over the Lady Go-Devils, especially as the game was played in Gurdon at the new gym. Still, the Wolverettes handed Gurdon's senior girls their first loss in the facility.

When these two squads met in the first game of the season at Prescott, the Wolverettes demolished Gurdon. At the 6:02 mark in the first quarter, it looked like a repeat as Prescott was up 7-0.

Andrea Cossey opened scoring with a three-pointer as the Wolverettes went on a 14-5 run in the opening frame. In fact, Prescott's girls hit the first six shots they put up, as they took a 12-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game.

But, they were playing Gurdon and there's no rolling over and playing dead when these two teams lock horns in any sport.

Though the Lady Devils didn't score until the 4:14 point of the first period, they battled tooth and nail for the remainder of the contest.

Then the Wolverettes got cold and Gurdon got hot. Stacy Stockton wound up riding the pines in the second period because of foul problems. This left Prescott short handed and helped the Lady Devils get back in the game.

By halftime, the Gurdon girls still trailed by nine, with the score 29-20 as Prescott couldn't pull away,.

Both teams played tough defense, which led to a lot of work being done by the zebras, who wound up calling a total of 45 fouls in the game.

Gurdon did what Gurdon does and fired threes from all over the court. Prescott's Cossey, however, was deadly beyond the arc as she nailed three in the game.

Lack of games affected Prescott as the Wolverettes committed several unforced turnovers, allowing Gurdon to stay in the game.

The Wolverettes came out hot in the third quarter with Traci Graham nailing back-to-back threes.

Still, the Lady Devils refused to go away. With 3:18 left in the third, Gurdon had cut the lead to 39-34, only to see Prescott put on another spurt and end the quarter leading 46-38.

Then the battle began in earnest as the Lady Devils turned up the heat on both sides of the ball and outscored Prescott 20-16 in the final eight minutes.

Trailing by 11, 51-40, with 5:18 left in the game, it appeared as though Gurdon was finished.

Nobody, though, bothered to tell the Lady Devils this, as they pressed the ball hard and cut the lead to 51-44 with 4:06 remaining. The Gurdon press forced several turnovers by Prescott and were converted into points by the Lady Devils.

With 3:48 to go, the score had been whittled down to 51-48. Eighteen seconds later, Stockton was on the bench for good as she fouled out.

Fans for both teams got their money's worth in this game as Gurdon cut the score to 57-55 with 1:31 left on the clock, and the score was 59-58 with less than a minute left.

Free throws proved to be the final scoring for the Wolverettes as Gurdon fouled in an effort to stop the clock and get the ball back.

The Lady Devils fired threes as they tried to keep within striking distance, but the rainbows were shining for the Wolverettes on this night.

Graham led all scorers with 25, while Cossey contributed 21 in the game. Kamori Scott tossed in nine for good measure.

Alicia Clayborn paced Gurdon with 24, while Jessica Rainey netted 13 and Tameka Hatley nailed 12.

Neither team did particularly well from the charity stripe. The Wolverettes were 13 of 21, while the Lady Devils converted 12 of 24.

PRESCOTT 44

GURDON 58

The Curley Wolves didn't fare as well as the senior girls.

Though fighting hard, the Wolves fell 58-44 to the Go-Devils.

Gurdon pounced on the Prescott five early as they took a 22-10 lead at the end of one and were up 38-22 at the half.

Prescott's fortunes improved somewhat in the second half, as Devil Coach John Ware substituted often.

By the end of three, the Devils led 49-36 and were able to cruise during the final eight minutes.

Brian Woodley led the Wolves with 10 points, while Jason Morrow canned two from downtown and Brandon Wilson netted a trey as well.

Eric Hatley led Gurdon with 10, with Antonio Gatlin swishing two from beyond the arc.

Neither squad shined at the charity stripe either. Prescott was seven of 24, while Gurdon hit 11 of 24.

CURLEY CUBS 16

JR. DEVILS 22

Prescott's night opened with a loss by the junior boys to Gurdon 22-16.

The Cubs opened with a 5-4 lead in the first quarter, but went cold thereafter. By halftime, the Devils were in command 16-7 and showed no signs of being gracious hosts.

The third period saw Gurdon up 17-9 as the Cubs couldn't buy a basket,.

Of course, Prescott's inability to score was due, in part, to a harassing defense applied by Gurdon.

WOLVERETTES 62

LADYCATS 56 (OT)

In their first game of the inaugural Foot of the Mountain Classic round-robbin tourney in Mena, Prescott's girls needed an extra period to do away with the host team 62-56.

The Wolverettes were blessed with some serious good luck as the Lady Bearcats missed a game winning shot at the buzzer from close range.

The two squads battled back and forth evenly for the first two quarters, with the first deadlocked 14-14 and the score tied 24-24 at intermission.

Mena managed a slight edge at the end of three as they led 40-39. Regulation, though, ended with the score deadlocked 49-49.

The extra period was all Prescott's girls needed as they kicked into another gear to post the win.

Graham led the team with 23 points, while Cossey contributed another 20, including four three-pointers.

Graham also had four assists and four rebounds. Cossey dished out a trio of assists and cleaned the glass 10 times, while Stockton had four boards and three assists.

Mena was led by Pate's 21, including four treys. Turbyfill sank 15 and Lacy had 10.

Free throws could have been important, as Prescot was 17 of 26 and Mena six of 13 from the stripe.

PRESCOTT 61

LAKESIDE 54

Game two of the tourney saw the Wolverettes gain a measure of revenge for an earlier loss in the season at the hands of the Lakeside Lady Rams.

The Lady Rams found playing outside their own backyard a difficult task, especially with the team they were tangling with being Prescott.

However, the Wolverettes also knew the Lady Rams weren't going to be easy, and they weren't.

Prescott opened well, taking a 15-9 lead at the end of one, but Lakeside fought back, cutting the lead to 26-25 at the half.

The Wolverettes responded with a 17-10 third period as they regained the lead 43-35 and fought hard to insure the win.

Stockton had the hot hand for Prescott in this game as she stroked the nylons for 22 points, pulled down 10 boards and had four assists. Graham followed with 16 points, five rebounds and five assists. Coss