The Cleveland Middle eighth-grade Lady Raiders were crowned champions of the Dalton Invitational basketball tourney Saturday. The Lady Raiders defeated Ocoee Middle 50-37 after a hard-fought battle.
The OMS Lady Colts had upset in their plan, but the Lady Raiders responded in their own way. Combining their aggressive defense with a 16-point performance by seventh grader Sofia Stomatiatus was enough to give the Lady Raiders their second win of the season.
The Lady Raiders found themselves down 14-8 at the end of the first quarter, up 25-24 at the half and then pulled away for the win in the second half.
For the Lady Raiders Taelor Hill scored 11 points, Shawnia Anderson tossed in seven and Kat Alomar hit 5-of-6 free throws. To round out the scoring, Gabria Hubbard and Gabby Saliba scored four and Kellee Geren tossed in a basket each.
OMS’s Laney Houston played an excellent game offensively and defensively knocking in seven points in the first half and finishing the night with 10. Brandi Brown added seven points and E.K. Brown tossed in five for the lady Colts.
“What an awesome game the OMS Lady Colts played. They came out, battled, had us on the ropes and that is what it is about. We were fortunate to recover, readjust and get the win” commented CMS coach Kelli Fulton.
The Lady Raiders are 2-0 and will face one of the best middle school teams in the state, Knox Webb, Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
Colts drop McCallie
The Ocoee Middle School boys basketball team took on McCallie over the weekend in the Dayton Tournament.
Leading for the Colts was Josh Jones with 19 points, Matthew Meadows put up 13, Wes Wagner had nine points, Ben Clark with six points and Brice Gibson with four.
Currently the Colts carry a record of 2-1 on the season.
Raiders win in Dalton
The Cleveland Middle eithth-grade boys basketball team started the 2011 season with a Championship victory in the Dalton Tournament.
On Wednesday evening, the Raiders opened their season with a convincing 45-35 victory over McCallie. By midway through the third quarter CMS held a 28 point advantage when Coach Phillips backed off the attack and emptied the bench.
Bradley McCurdy led the attack with 21 points hitting five 3-pointers. Cantrel Ware followed the scoring with 12. T.J. Constant contributed nine rebounds and eight points.
In the championship game against host Dalton, the Raiders jumped out to a 23-11 halftime advantage and never looked back.
Constant led the CMS scoring with 10 points followed by Ware with nine and Bradley McCurdy with eight.
“It is nice to begin the season with a pair of wins and a championship,” said first year coach Roby Phillips. “We’ve got a long way to go, but I saw a lot of good things. Consistency will be the key ingrediant to our success.”
The Raiders play their home opener Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m. against Webb School of Knoxville.
