Staff Report

The Great Crossing Warhawks, North Laurel Lady Jaguars and Pineville Mountain Lions were winners in the inaugural Gem City Shootout held at Pineville’s Lions’ Den Saturday afternoon.

In the early game, the Warhawks, the state’s No. 1 squad, jumped out to a commanding 32-11 lead over Corbin and never looked back in a 75-25 victory over the Redhounds.

Vince Dawson led Crossing (23-1) with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Jeremiah Godfrey and Junius Burrell added 12 points each.

Malachi Moreno, a 7-foot-1 center, dominated the inside, scoring six points, grabbing 13 rebounds, and altering and blocking numerous shots.

Lucas Brittian led the Hounds (12-7) with seven points.

In the second game of the day, North Laurel also jumped out to a commanding 15-point lead early and defeated the homestanding Lady Lions 67-35.

Chloe McKnight led the region’s top-ranked squad, now 17-4, with 16 points. Jaelyn Black added 14 and Brooke Nichelson scored 11 points and grabbed a team-leading 12 rebounds.

Nadine Johnson led the 14-4 Lady Lions with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

The final game of the evening was a barnburner with the Lions squeaking out a 70-68 victory over visiting Berea.

Sawyer Thompson led all scorers for the 14-6 Lions with 32 points. Ashton Moser added 11.

Jack Hemenway led the 14-7 Pirates with 18 points. Finley Blevins added 14.

Knox posts dominate in district sweep of Pineville

There has been a longstanding notion among the basketball community that winning teams have a definite inside post presence.

The Knox Central Panthers and Lady Panthers subscribe to this notion.

Knox rode big games from their senior posts, Halle Collins and Gavin Chadwell, to defeat Pineville last Tuesday night in the Gem City — 68-61 in the girls’ game and 78-67 in the boys’ matchup.

Collins registered 32 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Lady Panthers, and Chadwell tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds to the Panthers cause.

Both games were seesaw affairs throughout with neither team gaining a large advantage. However, when the game tightened up in the fourth quarter, Knox usually found a way to score off their post players.

Senior guard Nadine Johnson and sophomore forward Rachel Howard had big games for the 13-3 Lady Lions. Johnson poured in 28 points to lead the attack. Howard came up big with 20 points and seven rebounds.

Guard Timberly Fredrick added 11 points on three three-point baskets for the Lady Panthers.

Pineville was led by their scoring tandem of Sawyer Thompson and Ashton Moser in boys’ action. Thompson had 24 points and six rebounds for the 12-6 Lions. Moser had 21 points and seven rebounds. Zander Garrison also tallied six rebounds to go with seven points.

The Panthers placed three others in double figures Grayson Burton scoring 17, Austin Bargo 16, and Braydon Mills 10.