By JASON KING
Leader sports writer
The North vs. South rivalry was all Cabot North on Monday night at the North campus gym, as the North
Panthers and Lady Panthers defeated their crosstown rivals in a pair of Metro-conference matchups.
The North girls dominated South in the first game of the night, beating South 36-16, while the North Panthers
won 36-29 with another strong performance from Adam Sterrenberg.
The boys contest started out very slowly, with the first quarter resulting in a 2-2 tie heading
into the second frame. The offensive pace picked up in the next eight minutes, with North
leading at halftime 19-11. Outside shooting would be the key for North in the second quarter, with three-point
shots from Jack Bridges, Nathan Holland and Sterrenberg, including two from Bridges. The second
three pointer from Bridges at the 2:55 mark gave North a 14-8 lead, and made for the last time in the game that
South trailed by a single score.
North only outscored South 8-7 in the third quarter, but still held momentum heading into the final period.
Austin Johnson tried to make up the early deficit for South in the fourth, scoring eight of his total 20
points in the period, but it would not be enough. North claimed the win to give them a final overall standing of second in the
Metro Conference, with a 12-4 Metro record for the season. “We were trying to go more to
the spread game,” North coach Keith Watkins said. “We were in bonus, so I thought if we could just
hit our free throws we could gap them enough. They started coming back a little bit on us, but we
had enough people step up at the end and make free throws.”
Sterrenberg led North with 20 points in the game, and shared high scorer honors with South’s
Johnson, who also came away with 20 points on the night. The girls game started out competitive,
with the North ladies holding a slight 7-5 lead at the end of the first quarter. A blistering second from North
put the game out of reach for South, as they were held to only two points in the entire quarter.
North scored 17 of their own before the half, to take a commanding 24-7 lead heading into
the second half. Jenna Bailey scored all of her game-high 13 points in the first
half for North, including a jumper and a three pointer with 49 seconds left in the first quarter to give
them the early lead. North held South to two points again in the third quarter, but this
time only scored four points themselves.
The low-scoring period resulted in a 30-9 North lead at the start of the fourth quarter.
Shelby Ashcraft was South’s only scorer in the final frame, scoring
six points inside. Ashcraft finished with 12 on the night, but with
only four points in the game from the rest of the team, Ashcraft’s
solid performance was far from enough for South. North tacked on
six more points in the fourth to take the 20-point win.
The North girls finished second overall in the Metro Conference, with a final overall record of 16-4
and a Metro record of 14-2. North Lady Panthers head coach Kelley Spencer says her team has overcome
a lot of adversity this season, and has continued to improve. “It has been an up and down
season for us,” Spencer said.
“They have had a lot of challenges this year with a new coach and a new system, and they have
adapted well. I think we are playing our best basketball right now, and it couldn’t come at a better
time.”
