By ANN THARP
Special to The Leader
The Cabot Panther basketball team defeated White Hall Saturday in the Cabot Pre-Holiday Classic to remain undefeated in the tournament and claim the championship trophy. Cabot controlled the game from the beginning and the final score was 74-23. The Panthers also had victories over Catholic (61-26) and Magnolia (61-40) in the tournament.
“I wish it had been a closer game for us to help us later on, but a good thing about that is, you get to reward a lot of your kids that work every day in practice,” Cabot coach Jerry Bridges said. “I was proud of our team because we went out there and did what we were supposed to do. I thought we did come out with our edge from the get-go. We did win the Classic, and everyone got to play. That’s a good thing.”
Cabot jumped out to a 8-0 lead before the Bulldogs could score. Logan Gilbertson started the scoring with a 2-pointer under the basket. Matt Stanley sank two free throws and a 2-point basket, followed by a steal and dunk by Jarrod Barnes.
Tylin Walker scored two for White Hall, but the offense of the Panthers continued to shine. Stanley had a dunk, Barnes and Parker Childress each had a 3-point basket, and Gilbertson ended the quarter with an old-fashioned 3-point play for a score of 22-4.
Stanley scored twice from offensive rebounds early in the second frame. Jared Vance sank a three and then a 2-pointer under the basket.
Bobby Joe Duncan had two 3-point baskets, and Gilbertson a dunk on a feed by Duncan. Landon Vaught also had four points. The lead was 43-6 at the half.
Vance, Childress, and Jalen Brown all sank 3-pointers in the third quarter, but Noah Allgood led in scoring for the period with five points. Aiden Shurley added a two, and the score grew to 61-20 after three periods.
Vance hit his third and fourth 3-point baskets in the fourth quarter, Childress had three points, and Vaught added a 2-point basket and a pair of free throws for the final margin of 74-23.
Vance led in scoring for Cabot with 14 points, Gilbertson and Stanley each had 10, Childress had nine points, Vaught added eight, Duncan six, and Barnes, Brown, and Allgood each had five points. Walker had 12 points for the Bulldogs.
Cabot hosts Jacksonville on Friday.
