The Stone Memorial girls and boys went outside District 7 play Saturday night when they visited nearby 1A powerhouse Clarkrange for a doubleheader.
The Lady Panthers, behind their patented full-court smothering pressure, jumped on top of things early in the girls game. Stone led 8-0 before rolling to the surprisingly easy 83-53 victory.
In the boys contest, Briggs Lowe, Evin Moseley and Jack Cordell combined for 42 points to lead the Panthers over the Buffaloes by a score of 68-35.
“This place kind of has a mystique about it over the years, and I have witnessed some incredible basketball played in this gym on the girls side,” said Stone coach Mike Buck. “[Clarkrange] coach [Lamar] Rogers has a dangerous group. They can shoot it, they all can handle it, pass it. When you show up here, no matter how talented your team is, there is a little bit of a distraction.
“Our defensive pressure, we’ve tweaked it so much it’s a lot different than what we originally started with. Our girls have kind of gotten a lot better at taking some of those adjustments there on the fly. Most teams can’t simulate that in practice.”
Stone improves to 21-3 on the year. The loss drops Clarkrange to 13-15 overall.
The Lady Panthers came blazing out of the gate scoring the first eight points of the game. Lydia Phillips broke the streak with a basket for Clarkrange, but Stone then went on a 22-2 run to close out the first quarter.
Lauren Clark led the charge and she got help from Ashley Whittenburg, Lexi Clark and Ella Jane May to make it 30-4 at the break.
The 3-point shot was the name of the game in the second quarter. A trey by Whittenburg made it 35-7 with 6:01 on the clock. Whittenburg later scored five straight points, and when Bella Wyatt hit back-to-back 3-pointers with 2:06 to go, Stone led 48-12.
Wyatt, who had missed several weeks due to injury, closed out the first half of play with three straight long-range bombs to send Stone into halftime with a 59-15 advantage.
“We got Bella back tonight and she was able to kind of do some Bella things,” Buck said. “It is special that our team found her and gave her some opportunities there and she took advantage. She did more than just shoot the ball, she did well defensively. Adding her back in the mix will be great.”
Buck started filtering in his bench in the second half, and Clarkrange was able to cut into the Stone lead. Sophie Sitton and Phillips sparked a run by the Lady Buffaloes in the third quarter. A long trey by Sitton made it 72-25 with 2:28 to go in the period.
Ellie Gunter came on strong for Clarkrange, while Phillips, Sitton and Stella Byers tried to bring the Lady Buffaloes back. Stone led 72-39 going into the fourth period.
Lexi Clark had a game-high of 17 points for Stone Memorial. Whittenburg chipped in 13, Lauren Clark had seven and Kassie Kunkel scored six. Caitlyn Smith contributed five, while Cassie Hazelton and Ella Jane May scored four each. Emma Smith scored three.
Phillips and Gunter scored 16 each to set the pace for Clarkrange. Sitton tallied 10 points.
Stone Memorial Boys 68
Clarkrange 35
The Stone Memorial Panthers picked up their 15th win of the season with a victory at Clarkrange.
Lowe set the charge for Stone, coming up big in the post but also as the lead on several breakaway fast break baskets.
The Panthers led 19-9 after the first quarter and 33-15 heading into halftime.
“This is one of the best Clarkrange teams they’ve had in recent years,” said Stone Memorial coach Jess Raby. “They played a game the night before that went into overtime, so we wanted to run on them a bit and were able to do just that. I also think we defended hard. We wanted to make it hard for their guards.”
Clarkrange tried to make a run in the second half. Bryton Swallows picked up the pace for the Buffaloes with a couple of baskets inside. He got help from JD Bristol, Braxton Sears and Tristan Taylor. Clarkrange trailed 47-29 after three periods.
“I thought Briggs Lowe had a heck of a night,” Raby said. “He had 27 points and he is a matchup nightmare. We got into transition basketball some because of his anticipation abilities defensively. Jack Cordell had an efficient night, and we always love that. I am so happy for him to get a good win back home.”
Besides Lowe’s 27, Stone got 13 from Cordell and seven points from Hunter Haney. Clay Reeves tallied four points, Gabe Aytes and Tanner Bowman scored three each, while Moseley, Noah Potter and Jake Hennessee scored two a piece.
Swallows led Clarkrange with nine points, while Bristol tallied seven and Taylor got six. Slade Sears chipped in with five.
Stone Memorial improves to 15-7 overall, while Clarkrange falls to 15-12 on the season.