Wildcats earn 15th win of season

The Anna-Jonesboro Community High School boys’ basketball team split in recent action.

A-J 49, Fairfield 44: The Wildcats held on for the win over Fairfield at the Benton Shootout Saturday, Feb. 6.

 

Ryan Stark, who led the way for the Wildcats with 17 points and a rebound, made 9 of 10 crucial free throws in the final quarter to stop a come-from-behind bid by Fairfield.

“Ryan really played well in the fourth quarter,” A-J coach Mike Chamness said. “Nine of ten free throws in the fourth quarter was the difference in the game.”

Jake Parr added 15 points and 8 rebounds for A-J. Dakota Earnhart had 8 points and 3 rebounds. Sheldon McGrath had 3 points and 3 rebounds. Collin Prather and Wyatt Smith had 3 points and a rebound apiece. Garrett Nimmo and Hunter Garver had a rebound apiece.

“We were focusing on getting the ball in the post and we did that, but our three-point shooting wasn’t that good,” Chamness  said. The A-J coach said when his team gets its “post game and three-point shooting going, we can be pretty good.”

The Wildcats were 14 of 25 in shot attempts from the floor, 2 of 7 from 3-point range and 15 of 20 from the free throw line.

The Mules were 13 of 22 from the floor, 5 of 22 from 3-point range and 3 of 3 from the charity stripe.

Carterville 48, A-J 44: The visiting Wildcats couldn’t hold a first half lead in the Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference Mississippi Division loss Friday, Feb. 5.

Earnhart and McGrath led the way for A-J with 12 points and 3 rebounds apiece. Parr added 10 points and 7 rebounds. Garrett Nimmo had 10 points and 2 rebounds. Garver had 5 rebounds and Ryan Stark had 2 rebounds.

A-J was 9 of 32 in shot attempts from the floor, 6 of 17 from 3-point range and 7 of 10 from the free throw line.

The Lions were 17 of 29 in shot attempts from the floor, 1 of 11 from 3-point range and 11 of 16 from the charity stripe.

A-J, 15-11, is scheduled to play Friday at home against Pinckneyville and Saturday at Du Quoin.

“We’ve got 15 wins and we haven’t had that in several years,” Chamness said. “We felt like we played good enough to win Friday, but we didn’t. Saturday was a big win.”

 

The Gazette-Democrat

112 Lafayette St.
Anna, Illinois 62906
Office Number: (618) 833-2158
Email: news@annanews.com

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