Two county rivals met Friday night at Starr's Mill, and the home

team came away with two victories by considerable margins.

The Panthers downed McIntosh 61-36 in a game that stayed close through

the first quarter. Starr's Mill led 13-8 after one period behind

Andy Drum's two three-pointers. But in the second quarter the Panthers

outscored the Chiefs 18-4 to take a 31-12 lead into the locker room.

The third period was more of the same, and the Panthers led by 30 going

into the fourth on their way to the win. Ten Panthers scored points on

the night, as Drum led with 17, followed by Mike Mock with 13 and sophomore

Mark Harris with 10.

In the girls' game, Starr's Mill defeated McIntosh 67-33 behind

excellent team shooting. The Lady Panthers converted 20 of 39 two-pointers

and 7 of 13 from three-point range. Eleven of the team's 12 players

scored in the game.

Ashley Marine led the Lady Panthers with 20 points, including five threes.

One of those was a half-court shot at the end of the third quarter.

Angela Garza scored 12, while Jenny Norman and Aneesha Lane each contributed

6. Norman pulled down 11 rebounds, and Lane dished out 7 assists.

Another county rivalry resumed Saturday night, as Sandy Creek visited

Fayette County. The Lady Tigers defeated Sandy Creek 52-41 to improve

their record to 10-6 on the season.

The Lady Tigers were led in scoring by Richea Harris with 20 and Kristin

Bunch with 12. Defensively, the Lady Tigers were led by Camille Lilly

and Tiffany Norris.

The Tigers and Patriots battled in an extremely close boys game, with

Fayette County pulling out a 60-58 win.

The Lady Panthers followed up the McIntosh matchup with a hard-fought

52-48 loss to Carver in a road game at Columbus.

"This was probably� the most intense game we have played,"

said head coach Whitt Jones.�"We went into a hostile environment

and the game came down to the wire. However, I think this gives my team

confidence that we can play with anybody, anywhere - as long as we

stay focused and remain calm."

Starr's Mill again shot 50 percent from the floor. Carver had an

extraordinary advantage at the foul line, with 22 attempts to only two

for Starr's Mill, but Carver missed half of those shots to help the

Lady Panthers stay close.

"The difference in the game was at the free throw line," said

Jones.

Marine scored 13, while Norman and Katie Jacobsen each added 11 and Kirstin

Massmann scored 8.

On the boys' side, the Panthers dropped a hard fought 71-59 contest

to Carver. It was the third quarter that did in the visitors as they were

outscored 19-9 by the host Tigers during that stanza.

The first half was hotly contested with the Panthers up one (13-12) at

the quarter and the Tigers up two (29-27) at the half. The fourth quarter

saw both teams trading baskets.

Caleb Graham scored 20 to lead Starr's Mill, with Mock adding 19

and Drum scoring 13. The Tigers dominated this game at the foul line just

like the girls did, as Carver converted 15 of 20 free throws while the

Panthers were 4 of 6.

The Panthers are currently 8-9 on the season and 4-4 in Region 4-AAAAA.

Earlier in the week, the Panthers won a thriller at East Coweta as Graham

sank a 15-foot jumper with seven seconds to play for a 53-51 win in a

region game Jan. 6 in Sharpsburg. The game was tight all the way with

East Coweta holding a 19-18 halftime lead.

In the third quarter the teams began to swap leads with the Indians holding

a 36-34 edge. Mock who started the game with a 10-point first quarter

and boosted the Panthers down the stretch with an eight-point fourth quarter.

He led the Panthers with 20 points.

Graham added 16 and senior Andy Drum scored 13. Durrell Elom led EC with

13 points.

In perhaps the most publicized game in Georgia last weekend, Landmark

fell 71-63 to Southwest Atlanta Christian before a capacity crowd of more

than 3,000 at Atlanta Metropolitan College. Randolph Morris led Landmark

with 24 points and 25 rebounds in a battle against SW Atlanta center Dwight

Howard. The two are among the top prospects in the entire nation.

Justin Holland scored 15 for Landmark, and Sterling Brown added 12. The

War Eagles were 5-1 in Region 5-A going into last night's home game

against Whitefield, and 10-6 overall in a schedule that has included several

out-of-state tournaments against some of the country's top teams.

The team travels Monday to Greenville, S.C., for a one-day basketball

event on the MLK holiday pitting five top teams from Georgia against top

teams from South Carolina in separate games. Landmark tips off at 8 p.m.

Landmark is tied with Whitefield for second in the state in Class A behind

SW Atlanta, according to this week's coaches poll at gabasketball.net.

The Landmark-SW Atlanta rematch is scheduled for Jan. 30 at Alexander

Memorial Coliseum and will be televised by ESPN. Tickets are now on sale

at both schools and through Ticketmaster.

In the girls' game, Landmark defeated SW Atlanta 34-31 to improve

to 8-10 overall and 4-3 in region play. Erin Camp scored 14 points for

Landmark and Merritt Tidwell added 12.

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