NSM Girls Struggle, Boys Roll
By Nick Hall
The North Sand Mountain Bison had another mixed week with the boys sweeping Section, Pisgah and Dade County, Tennessee, while the girls went 1-2 on the week.
Girls
NSM 26, Section 21
North Sand Mountain (2-11, 1-5) got a win over the Section Lions on Tuesday, January 14, at home. The two teams will now have to flip a coin to determine the No. 3 seed in the area tournament in February. The Bison trailed the Lions 5-0 at the end of the opening period but took a 12-11 lead at the half. The game was knotted up at 19-all heading into the final frame where NSM outscored Section 8-2 for the win. Vicky Hassell led NSM with 8 points, followed by Kolbie Bobo with 7 and Jesse Weldon with 6. Haley Smart led the Lions with 8 points, followed by Madison Armstrong with 6 and Savannah White with 5.
NSM 41, Pisgah 69
The
Class 3A No. 1-ranked Eagles were too much for NSM to handle Friday, January 17,
at Pisgah. The Eagles (21-1) took a
27-12 lead into the second period and controlled the Bison 47-24 at
halftime. Pisgah stretched their
advantage to 66-31 heading into the final period. Kolbie Bobo led NSM with 12 points, followed
by Kaitlyn Davis with 9 and Candice Rimas with 7. Vicky Hassell and Jasmine Higdon netted 5
points each. Chloe Womack led Pisgah
with 20 points, 6 rebounds 3 steals and 2 assists, followed by Molly Heard with
18 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
Madison Myers finished with 11 points, 6 assists and 7 steals for Pisgah
while Layla Hatfield had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.
NSM 31, Dade County (Ga.)
34
NSM
rallied late but it wasn’t enough as they fell to visiting Dade County, Georgia,
on Saturday, January 18. Dade County
led 8-3 after one period and carried 14-13 lead to the locker room at
halftime. NSM fell further behind in the
third period, going into the fourth down 22-17.
Davis, Bobo and Hassell netted 6 each to lead the Bison. Weldon added 5, followed by Higdon with 4. Tori Williams led Dade County
with 10 points.
Boys
NSM 86, Section 81
No. 9-ranked NSM (12-6, 4-2) stopped a three-game losing
skid on Tuesday, January 14, with a win over the Section Lions (8-9, 3-3). The
Bison took a 26-14 lead into the second period and led 44-35 at halftime. That lead grew to 66-50 by the end of the
third. Section rallied in the fourth but
couldn’t overcome the deficit. Luke
Maples paced the Bison with 21 points, followed by Derek Bearden with 16, Russ
Marr with 13. Drue Carlton added 11 and Lake Bell
contributed 9. Logan Patterson led
Section with 19 points, followed by Gabe Hilley with 17, Alex Guinn and Drake
McCutchen with 13 each and Bo Bradford with 10.
NSM 74, Pisgah 61
The Class 2A No. 8-ranked Bison exploded in the third
quarter to defeat Pisgah (6-15). NSM
(13-6) held a narrow 14-12 lead over the Eagles at the end of the first period
and 35-33 at halftime. The Bison took
control in the second half however, stretching their advantage to 58-46 heading
into the final period. Maples led NSM
again with 23 points. Bearden netted 18
points, followed by Carlton
with 13, Marr with 8 and Josh Palmer with 6.
Austin Brown led Pisgah with 17 points, followed by Austin Thornhill and
Jared Wilks with 11 each and Zac Cornelison with 9.
NSM 81, Dade County, Georgia
48
NSM (14-6) defeated Dade County, Georgia
with ease, racing to a 28-13 lead at the end of the opening period and
controlling the game 52-24 at the intermission.
The Bison led Dade
County 71-37 at the
end of the third frame. Once again,
Maples set the pace for the Bison with 16 points, followed by Marr with 13,
Bearden with 11 and Kaleb Helton and Chandler Sullivan with 10 each. Jared Beasley and Noah Helton contributed 9
each. Brody Swader led Dade County
(4-15) with 7.
Five Bison scored in
double figures and two more had 9 points each. Luke Maples led NSM with 16
points while Russ Marr had 13, Derek Bearden 11, Kaleb Helton and Chandler
Sullivan 10 each and Jared Beasley and Noah Helton 9 each. Brody Swader scored
7 points for Dade County (4-15).