01-14-06
BY JACK BULLOCK
MOUNDS - Taking a statistical look at the first game of the Meridian Shootout on Saturday night, the Lincoln Charter/Cairo match up produced numbers that rival some NBA games.

Unfortunately for the Pilots, several glaringly problems attributed to their 93-80 loss to the Rams.

Coach Larry Baldwin saw his team outrebounded 55-36 in a 'free-for-all' type of contest that resembled a track meet more than a basketball game.

Thirty-two of the Lincoln Charter rebounds were on the offensive glass as they finished 11 of those rebounds with immediate scores.

Lincoln Charter also cashed in on 19-of-27 free throw attempts while Cairo managed just 2-of-4 from the line.

Not being able to get to the charity stripe or keep the Rams off the boards, Cairo saw its record dip to 4-9 on the season.

"They pretty much beat us on the boards all night long," said Baldwin. "We didn't check off very well but I am not sure that it would have mattered. They (Lincoln Charter) have some kids that have long arms and can get up over us. They are good athletes around the bucket and they beat us down the stretch."

With 173 points scored, defense was barely a whisper in game that produced 187 shot attempts and 57 turnovers between the two fast-paced teams.

Saying the game was a bit sloppy would be akin to referring to Ted Kennedy as being the slightly liberal senator from Massachusetts.

However there were a few quality performances in the contest.

Deonte Carlisle, the Rams' 6-foot-3 junior forward scored 22-points and was named the games MVP. A case could be made for teammate Kenneth Davis for the top prize. Davis tossed in a game-high 28 for coach Kenny Stanley's club that improved to an impressive 15-1 on the season, in just the school's second year of existence.

"I would really, truly like to see us play better on the defensive end of the floor," said Stanley, in his second season as head coach at Lincoln Charter after holding that position at Madison for two previous years. "When we get into the regionals we are going to have to stop people and tonight we didn't do that very well. But beating Cairo is a big win and they are definitely one of the top three teams we have played."

If you wore the number 15 for either team on this night, you had a pretty good game.

The Rams' Carlisle and Cairo's Chris Williams each got rolling in the opening period.

Williams scored seven consecutive points for the Pilots in a run that got his team the lead. His 3-pointer from the left corner made it 19-15 Cairo with 1:03 before the first stop.

But Carlisle helped give his club back the lead triggering a 6-0 run in the final minute.

He hit Anthony Sheppard with an assist and also scored on a rebound tap-in at the buzzer, making it 21-19 Lincoln Charter.

In the second quarter, Sheppard continued his good play around the basket.

The 6-foot-1 senior scored nine points in the quarter, including seven straight points to give LC 28-21 advantage.

"Tony came off the bench for us tonight and he is usually a starter but he gave us a spark out there," added Stanley.
"We saw Cairo play last month at Lovejoy and we thought we could crash the boards on them and get some baskets and we did it tonight."

Cairo regained the lead on the strength of a 10-0 run late in the half.

Jarren Carlton scored seven of those points on back-to-back 3-pointers and a fast break lay up.

After a Carlisle basket closed the first half scoring, the scoreboard read 39-38.

The Pilots held a lead of 43-40 after an Arthaniel Davis lay in and a backdoor lay in by Kenny Tucker.

Then Lincoln Charter used a quick scoring burst (9-2) to take the lead for good.

Williams, Carlisle and Sheppard all scored in the run that turned a three point deficit into a 51-45 lead.

"Deonte Carlisle has come a long way since last season," explained Stanley. "This is one of these games that last year he would have quit because he hated to get touched or banged around. But he has gotten tougher lately and he is going to get better."

In a game of scoring runs, Cairo had one left.

Trailing 60-53, the Pilots got five straight points to close the gap to just a bucket.

A Chris Williams 3-pointer and a Jamar Ivory fast break lay in made it 60-58 with :46 left in the third.

But that would be as close as the Pilots would get the rest of the way as Lincoln jumped out in the fourth quarter with the first six points.

Davis, Carlisle and Broddrick Harris scored in a run to extend the lead to 68-58 with 7:11 remaining.

Cairo got no closer than five points the rest of the way.

The Rams closed the door on the win from the foul line.

Forced to foul, coach Baldwin watched his team parade LC to the line where the Rams thrived.

Coach Stanley's kids made 13-of-14 freebies in the final quarter to pick up an important road win against a good non-conference opponent.

"It is good to get a game like this to see if we could handle the pressure and tonight we did a pretty good job," added Stanley. "I thought we over dribbled a few times tonight. We hit our free throws and it helped us put the game away."

Neither team shot the ball well, which prompted all of the rebounding opportunities.

Lincoln was 36-of-94 overall (38 percent) and just 2-of-15 from behind the 3-point line.

The Pilots were 36-of-93 (6-of-15 from 3-point land) for 39 percent.

Despite committing 31-turnovers, the Rams are starting to get some attention in the Metro-East.
"We need to take better care of the ball, especially if we are going to do any good in the postseason," Stanley added.
Cairo was nearly as slippery with the ball, adding 26-turnovers to the totals.

"This was the first game that we played this year that was sort of 'up-and-down' and we normally like that sort of game but we saw it for the first time tonight and they (Lincoln) were better at it tonight than we were," added Baldwin. "They got so many put backs and rebound baskets and they seemed at least a foot above us all night."

	1	2	3	4		Final
Lincoln Charter	21	17	24	31	-	93
Cairo	19	20	19	22	-	80

Lincoln Charter (93) - Carlisle 10 0 2-2 22, Williams 1 0 0-0 2, Sheppard 9 0 2-4 20, Nunley 1 0 0-0 2, Harris 5 0 2-2 12, Shelby 3 0 1-3 7, Davis 5 2 12-16 28.
2FG-34, 3FG-2, FT-19-27, PF-9.
Cairo (80) - Ivory 2 0 0-0 4, Ar. Davis 7 0 0-0 14, Williams 5 2 1-2 17, Johnson 4 0 1-2 9, Hampton 0 0 0-0 0, Jackson 1 0 0-0 2, An. Davis 1 0 0-0 2, Tucker 6 0 0-0 12, Carlton 3 4 0-0 18, Hunt 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-30, 3FG-6, FT-2-4, PF-18.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - Williams, Ar. Davis, Cairo.

MERIDIAN 81, LOVEJOY 53
The Bobcats overcame a sheepish first two quarters to explode to a big win in the final game of the Country Companies Shootout.
Leading just 37-33 at the break, Meridian jumped out on a 19-4 third quarter run to pull away.
Marland Johnson was the games Most Valuable Player by scoring 24-points, including a thunderous two-handed dunk.
Teammate Stanley Johnson added 23 for coach Jeff Mandrell's team who improved to 11-5 on the season.
Jerrel Stockstill and Malcolm Larry each tallied 13.
DeAntri Wiley topped all scorers with 28-points for Lovejoy (4-9).
No other Wildcat player scored double-digits.

	1	2	3	4		Final
Lovejoy	13	20	4	16	-	53
Meridian	19	18	19	25	-	81

Lovejoy (53) - Jones 0 0 0-0 0, Me. Emerson 0 1 0-0 3, Mo. Emerson 1-4 1, Atkins 0 0 0-0 0, O'Bannon 2 1 2-2 9, Agnew 2 0 0-0 4, Thomas 1 0 0-0 2, Wiley 6 3 7-8 28, Ford 2 0 0-0 4, Davis 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-14, 3FG-5, FT-10-16, PF-16.
Meridian (81) - S. Johnson 5 2 7-9 23, Hamilton 0 0 0-0 0, Lincoln 3 0 0-0 6, M. Johnson 11 0 2-6 24, Stockstill 6 0 1-4 13, Smith 5 1 0-0 13, Jackson 1 0 0-3 2.
2FG-31, 3FG-3, FT-10-22, PF-13.
Fouled Out - Ford, Lovejoy.
Technical Fouls - None.