The Stone Memorial Panthers were put to the test Friday and Saturday at the SMHS Christmas Classic, where they defeated Sacred Heart of Jesus High School 55-51 on Friday and York Institute 61-56 in two overtimes on Saturday.
“We’re still trying to figure ourselves out,” said SMHS head coach Neil Capps his team’s play over two days. “These were real gritty wins for our team. To step up against a really good Sacred Heart team last night and an undefeated York team tonight, and to be able to get two wins, as a coach I have no complaints. My kids fought two days in a row. They’ve earned their four-day break.”
Sacred Heart
Stone Memorial opened the two days of basketball against the biggest, most athletic team they’ve faced this season in Sacred Heart. The Knights have four players listed at 6’4” or taller on their roster, including 6’11” center Nana Malik.
“They were large, athletic, and really tried to speed us up,” said Capps on Sacred Heart. “They wanted to play an up-tempo game. We were able to get our back-cuts and get good ball movement and were able to make plays down the stretch.”
Stone Memorial opened with an 11-3 lead on the Knights before leading 14-10 after one quarter. Justin Headrick started the second period with two three-pointers to give his team a 20-10 advantage. Stone Memorial led 27-12 at halftime.
The Knights wouldn’t stay down the whole game as they mounted a fourth-quarter comeback to tie the contest at 47 with 2:46 remaining. Senior Brett Newcome finished off the contest for SMHS, scoring his team’s final six points in the last 1:22 of the game to give SMHS a 55-51 victory.
Stone Memorial (55): Brett Newcome 17, Justin Headrick 15, Jack Eldridge 10, Kaleb McCoy 6, Zach Boyd 3, Mason Cox 2, Chris Coudriet 2
York Institute
The Panthers overcame last adversity to win their second contest of the Christmas Classic, a 61-55 double overtime victory against previously undefeated York.
“Kids stepped up off the bench,” said Capps on the win. “We’ve still got a lot of growing up to do. We made some mistakes that maybe last year or the year before would’ve hurt us, but now with a veteran group we were able to overcome those and were able to make some really good plays down the stretch to help us win the game.”
SMHS led 19-13 after one quarter and 31-28 at halftime. Newcome had 10 first-half points for the Panthers along with seven from Headrick.
Stone Memorial and York battled through the third and early fourth period with the Panthers holding a slim lead. With 3:21 left, York took their first second-half lead at 45-44. Baskets from Jack Eldridge and Chris Coudriet gave SMHS a 48-45 lead with 1:16 left.
After a York basket at the 27.8 mark, the Dragons were able to steal an inbounds pass and convert and and-one with 9.2 seconds left to take a 50-48 lead. Newcome answered with two clutch free throws with 1.2 seconds on the clock to force overtime, tied at 50.
“They had good ball players,” Capps added on the Dragons. “They have high basketball-IQs. Coach (Russell) Tays does a fantastic job. They made us pay on mistakes all night.
Six total points were scored in the first overtime as the teams were tied 53-53 after four minutes. In the second extra period, Newcome scored two early baskets to put his team ahead 57-53. York converted a basket before Headrick delivered a dagger in the form of a corner three-pointer with 1:22 left to put his team up 60-55. Jared VanWinkle added a late free throw to give his team the 61-55 victory.
Stone Memorial (61): Brett Newcome 21, Justin Headrick 17, Jared VanWinkle 6, Jack Eldridge 6, Mason Cox 4, Chris Coudriet 4, Kaleb McCoy 3
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