By RICK HARRINGTON Progress Sports Correspondent
Monday, Feb. 8, 2010 — VERDIGRIS — A season high ten 3-pointers combined with a 20-point, 6-assist performance from Austin Monroe catapulted the #6 Class 3A Verdigris Cardinals past Inola 69-40 on Friday night in the 1st Annual Coaches vs. Cancer shootout at the Jack Collins Fieldhouse.
The Cardinals raced to a 20-6 lead after one and increased their advantage to 41-20 after two quarters when senior Brett Knaust’s 3-point bomb from the left wing found the bottom of the net at the halftime buzzer.
Verdigris, utilizing a 9-player rotation, continued to exploit the Inola zone defense during the third stanza, opening with an 11-5 run that ultimately increased the Cardinal lead to 56-29 entering the final eight minutes.
Monroe’s fifth 3-point rainbow in seven attempts with 4:28 to play in the contest made the score 59-33 in favor of the sharp-shooting Cardinals. Verdigris coach Randy Upshaw then turned the contest over to reserves who finished off the 29-point victory, their 16th of the season against 3-defeats.
“We’ve still got some work to do but I was really pleased with our victory tonight,” said Verdigris coach Upshaw. “Our ball movement against their zone was much better and a total of ten 3’s is our best performance from beyond the arc this season.”
Monroe led all scorers with 20-points for the Cardinals while senior Jared Whitmire followed with a solid 13-point effort. In all, ten Verdigris players participated in the scoring. Charlie Hall paced the Longhorns with 13-points and was the only Inola player to reach double-figures.
The Coaches vs. Cancer contests raised in excess of $1,500 to aid work of the American Cancer Society. “My assistant Chris Houk deserves all the credit for the successes of this 1st Annual event,” said Upshaw. “He devoted a ton of his own time during a very busy season to make it all happen. I’m really proud of his efforts.”
Girls
On the strength of an explosive third quarter surge, the #12 Class 3A Verdigris Lady Cardinals improved to 13-6 by downing Inola 54-35 on Friday night in the 1st Annual Coaches vs. Cancer shootout at the Jack Collins Fieldhouse.
Verdigris held a slim 9-8 lead after one quarter and remained on top 21-17 at intermission over a revenge seeking Lady Longhorn squad they had defeated 51-29 in early December.
Coach Gary Kennemer’s halftime talk to his Lady Cardinals, who led by only 4-points, apparently was related to something heard in the movie classic “Hoosiers.”
Revived, suddenly confident and excited, the Lady Cardinals quickly scored on 9-of-12 possessions that produced an 18-4 run to open the second half, increasing their advantage to 39-21. That amazing run included three 3-point bombs and a traditional 3-point play by Mallary Schaub.
A rebound and buzzer-beating follow shot by Julia Mitchell made the count 43-24 after three quarters.
Coach Rick Ott’s Lady Longhorn squad fought valiantly during the final eight minutes of the contest but could never slice into the double-digit Verdigris lead, ultimately falling 54-35.
Mitchell and Shaylinn Vestal led the Lady Cardinals, each with a game high 11-points. Kourtney Crane paced Inola (6-12) with 10-points while Angela Ford added 9.
“I was awfully proud of our team tonight, especially the job they did in the third quarter,” said Verdigris coach Kennemer. “Inola played well, forced us to face adversity, and our girls responded to the task. It was a good win for the Lady Cardinals.”
Boys
#6 Verdigris 69, Inola 40
INOLA 6 14 9 11 =40
VERDIGRIS 20 21 15 13 =69
Inola (3-14) – Charlie Hall 13, Garrett Watkins 7, Ryan Combs 5, Drew Davis 5, TJ Edmonds 4, Markus Buck 3, Derek Combs 2, Kyle Mootry 1.
Verdigris (16-3) – Austin Monroe 20, Jared Whitmire 13, Brett Knaust 8, Andre Bernier 7, Jake Culver 6, Brian Phillips 4, Josh White 4, Jordan Keith 3, Andrew Parham 2, Blake Battenfield 2.
Girls
#12 Verdigris 54, Inola 35
INOLA 8 9 7 11 =35
VERDIGRIS 9 12 22 11 =54
Inola (6-12) – Kourtney Crane 10, Angela Ford 9, Kelsea Sears 6, Holly Cox 4, Lauren McDaniel 4, Kaylee Peterson 2.
Verdigris (13-6) – Julia Mitchell 11, Shaylinn Vestal 11, Brittany Crow 8, Mallary Schaub 7, Taylor Garrett 7, Bradi Cagle 4, Stacia Payne 3, Shannon Swopes 3.
