ORRVILLE — No. 2 ranked Keith (9-2) continued its hot play Friday night in a 65-48 victory over rival Southside (4-3) in which the Bears led from start to finish.

Morris Collins had a career night, posting 18 points and 11 rebounds. At one point, he dove on the floor to gain possession for Keith and also had several steals to keep momentum on the Bears’ side.

“If we had a game ball, we’d have to put it in his hands tonight,” said Keith head coach Tommy Tisdale. “He played tremendous tonight, all night … he’s been a diamond in the rough for us and in a game like this he really rose to the occasion.”

Fans from both sides clearly anticipated one of the better county games of the year, as the stands were full on both sides and many stood against the wall to get a peek of the action. Cheers erupted from the stands throughout the night and the energy in the gym seemed to be amped up from the opening tip.

“I can give [the crowd] 10 of the points,” Tisdale said. “I can probably can give them five turnovers too, doing things out of hype but I can give the crowd 10 points. I can give the cheerleaders another three. They started a chant in the game I’d never heard before.”

Keith scored the game’s first eight points and led the rest of the way, but it was not easy.

John Pettway helped set the tone on offense for the Bears by being aggressive in the first quarter. He scored only five points in the first quarter, but shot six free throws. That ended up being a theme for the evening.

Pettway shot 14-for-22 from the free throw line and the Bears went 18-for-25 as a team. He finished the night with 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

“They lived at the foul line tonight,” said Southside head coach Cedric Brown. “That didn’t help.”

Keith led by as many as 15 in the first half and took a 38-25 lead into halftime.

DeQuan Johnson led a rally late in the third quarter to pull the Panthers within 49-42 going into the fourth. Johnson drove the floor for a layup and then turned a steal into a dunk to ignite the Southside portion of the crowd.

The momentum was short lived.

Keith scored the first 12 points of the fourth quarter to take command.

Justyn Pettway went coast to coast for a layup and Dalven Johnson made two field goals to help stretch the lead. Dalven Johnson had 14 points and 13 rebounds in the game.

Over the last seven days, Keith has now games by 17 or more against Southside, Dallas County, Selma and Isabella.  Southside is going the opposite direction as the Panthers have followed a 4-0 start with three straight losses.

“We’ve got to get back in the swing of things,” Brown said.

“We haven’t gotten out of it really. It’s just a matter of putting a ‘W’ on the board at the end of the night.”

Kentavius Page scored 13 points to lead Southside in scoring.

The Bears will play at R.C. Hatch Tuesday and Southside will play at Monroe County.

 

Keith 57, Southside 10 (Girls)

ORRVILLE — Harriet Winchester scored more points in the third quarter than Southside could muster in four of them during Friday night’s game.

Winchester scored 16 of her 22 in the third quarter as Keith (10-1) coasted to a 57-10 win over the Panthers.

It was Keith’s tenth win in a row and the Bears remained undefeated at home this year.

“They are playing together, talking on defense, playing defense together, motivating each other to do what they are supposed to do,” said Keith head coach Cecil Williams.

The Bears led 16-5 after the first quarter and stretched the lead to 29-6 at halftime. Southside had trouble with Keith’s half court trap, which resulted in numerous steal opportunities.

“They don’t have that many ballhandlers so we just came out and tried to put the pressure on them,” Williams said.

Shatavia Moore was the only other Bears’ player in double figures with 10 points.