Southwest DeKalb’s Nate Ambersley gets past Druid Hills’ Cameron Stokes (5) for a much needed basket in the Panthers win. (Photo by Mark Brock
Nate Ambersley scored 9 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter to help the No. 9 ranked Southwest DeKalb Panthers stave off a furious second half rally by the Druid Hills Red Devils for a 68-56 victory in Region 6-5A action at Druid Hills on Tuesday night.
Druid Hills had cut a 24 point lead to 4 (51-47) with 5:47 to play on a pair of free throws by Dillan Hall and had the ball following a Panther turnover with the opportunity to cut the lead to two or one.
A missed shot and a fifth foul on Hall gave the Panthers the ball back. Southwest DeKalb’s leading scorer Keith Gilmore went to the basket, was fouled and sank both free throws for a 53-47 lead.
The Red Devils would get no closer the rest of the way as Darius Hogan hit both ends of a one-and-one and added two more quick buckets to push the lead to 59-51 with 2:50 to play.
Druid Hills’ leading scorer on the night, Cameron Starkes (15), would foul out on the play against Hogan and both of the players who spurred the big rally for the Red Devils (Stokes and Hall) would be out the remainder of the game.
Ambersley would take over the final 2:01 of the game for Southwest DeKalb hitting 5 of 8 free throws and adding a drive to the basket following a turnover to seal the win for the Panthers (18-3, 8-1)).
Southwest DeKalb was holding a 40-23 lead at the half and pushed it out to 48-24 in the opening 2:30 of the third quarter behind a three-point play by Gilmore, a pull up jumper by Ambersley and a three-pointer from the left corner by Hogan.
The Red Devils (9-10, 5-4) behind the play of Starkes and Hall would then begin a rally as Stokes would drive for a layup and Jordan Foote would complete a three-point play for a quick five points.
Gilmore’s drive for a layup with 4:17 left in the quarter would make it 50-29 and would be Southwest’s last score of the period.
Hall would get back-to-back offensive rebounds and scores for Druid Hills, including a three-point play, while Starkes would add a basket and two free throws along with a three-point play by Seth Asra following his steal of a Southwest pass to cut the deficit to 9 (50-41) heading into the fourth quarter.
Starkes would open the fourth quarter with a drive for a layup followed by a steal and basket by Trey Hollinger to make it 50-45 with 7:30 to play in the game.
Hall’s two free throws with 6:05 remaining and a turnover by Southwest gave Druid Hills its opportunity to cut the lead to 2 or 1.
Ambersley finished the night with a game 25 points with Gilmore adding 20 more for the Panthers and Darius Hogan joining the pair in double figures with 14 points.
Cameron Starkes finished with 15 points to lead Druid Hills while Jordan Foote pulled down 10 rebounds.
The Southwest victory denied Druid Hills’ Jerome Lee from picking up his 200th career victory. He sits at 199-263 for his career in DeKalb County. The Red Devils have an opportunity to get the 200th for Lee on Friday as they host Dunwoody.
Southwest DeKalb’s Raven Thurman drives past Druid Hills’ Zoey Beato (22) and Angel Gibbs (12) during first half action of Southwest’s Region 6-5A win. (Photo by Mark Brock)
(G) SW DeKalb 49, Druid Hills 15
The No. 4 ranked Southwest DeKalb Lady Panthers shutout Druid Hills in two of the four quarters as they cruised to a 49-15 Region 6-5A victory over the hosts Lady Red Devils in the night’s opening game.
Cori Bostic and Chantz Cherry had six points each in the opening period and Michaela Benefield added five on the way to a 20-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Druid Hills had trouble with the Southwest full-court press as the team turned the ball over 14 times in the first quarter as Southwest turned the turnovers into 12 points in the paint and free throw opportunities.
Benefield was the beneficiary of some nice passes from Bostic and Yaria Sanders for easy buckets in the second quarter as she would finish the half with 11 points.
The Lady Red Devils would go the entire first half without a basket from the floor as they trailed 30-6 at the break with China Durham hitting 5 of 6 from the line to put Druid Hills on the scoreboard before the half.
Southwest DeKalb changed its lineup frequently over the final three quarters and scored just 19 second half points.
Durham would finish with 10 points as she knocked down a three-pointer and pair of free throws in the third quarter to round out the scoring for Druid Hills (3-17, 2-9).
Cori Bostic finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds to lead Southwest DeKalb (15-5, 10-0) while Michaela Benefield added 14 points and 6 rebounds.