Pleasant Home and Straughn won games in varsity basketball contests at a cross-county rivalry matchup on Friday, January 6, at PHS.
Varsity Girls – Straughn 35, Pleasant Home13 Straughn was the leader from start to finish. She won a 35-13 win at Pleasant Home in Friday’s varsity girls game.
Melonie Harris opened with four points in first period. Presley Bates scored two more. Bryleigh McBride was one-of-2 from the line, giving the Lady Tigers a 7-2 lead. Presley Kelley scored two of the Lady Eagles’ points on a buzzer-beater. Bates scored a three-pointer, and the Lady Eagles finished the second half with eight points. Blakeley Smith made a field goal and SHS led 17-7 at halftime. Piper Bulger, Hailey Ward had two points each for PHS before halftime.
In the third, Bates made another shot from beyond arc while Aubrey Pittman scored three free throws. Smith and Madison Williamson completed the period with two-for-two performances at the line for Straughn. Ward and Emma Grace Anderson each grabbed two, but Pleasant Home was trailing 11-11 with eight minutes left. Smith finished the game with four points. He also hit a shot from downtown. Ward scored the two PHS points in the final frame, with Nevaeh Marshall scoring four and Anna Driver scoring one.
Bates led the Lady Tigers’ scoring with 13 points. Smith was next at seven. Ward was the Lady Eagles’ leading scorer with six points. Both teams began area play Tuesday when Straughn hosted W.S. Pleasant Home and Neal travelled to J.F. Shields.
Varsity Boys – Pleasant Home 61 Straughn 44
Pleasant Home overcame a slow offensive beginning and won a 61-44 victory against Straughn in home varsity boys’ action on Friday, January 6.
Taylor Sikes, who scored nine points for the Tigers, also made it rain three times from downtown during the first period. Micah Turner scored five goals in the frame. Parker Black converted a bucket to give the Tigers a lead of 16-9 after one. Luke Gatewood scored five points for the Eagles, while Jackson Hawkins and Dillan Purifoy also made field goals. PHS scored 17 points in the second quarter. Mason Anderson scored eight points with two beyond-the-arc shots. Purifoy added four to his total, while Gatewood hit another three-pointer. Layne Grantham scored five of the seven points for SHS, which trailed 26-23 at halftime.
Anderson continued to dominate the net from long distance and scored eight more points after the break. Sikes and Purifoy each scored five in the third. Turner came in next with three. Pleasant Home, however, increased its lead to 43-34 after eight minutes. Purifoy added three more in the fourth, and was three-of-four at that point. Anderson finished the frame with five points, and Brodie Griffin added two more. Turner and Black led Straughn with three points each down the stretch, but their struggles at the free-throw line proved to be costly. PHS scored 18 points in the final eight minutes, while SHS was held to 10.
Anderson scored 21 points to lead the Eagles. Purifoy scored 17 points, while Gatewood had nine. Sikes was the leader of the Tigers’ with 16 points. He was also three-for-three at the line. Turner scored 11 points in the loss, followed by Grantham at eight and Black at seven.
Pleasant Home will be back in action on Friday, January 13, with homecoming matches against McKenzie starting at 4:30 p.m. Straughn will visit Hillcrest-Evergreen Tuesday Jan. 17, with the opening tips also at 4:30 p.m.
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