It was more like an airball as Hill pulled off the sweep, beating the Leopards 86-74 and the Lady Leopards 61-57.
MEN
Temple men’s coach Kirby Johnson shook his head over one particular statistic after Saturday’s loss to Hill: 7-of-19 shooting from the free throw line, including two airballs.
That was indicative of the type of frustration Johnson and the Leopards (11-7, 1-1) had against the Rebels.
“It wasn’t a pretty game to watch,” he said. “We played well (against Weatherford on Wednesday) and we didn’t play well today. Every time we had an opportunity to cut it, we didn’t take advantage. We had two airballs. Airballs! On free throws!”
Instead, it was Hill taking advantage of every opportunity it could along the way, including an 11-point run in the final two minutes of the first half to take a 47-34 lead into the locker room.
The Leopards were able to cut the lead back to within five early in the second half, but they couldn’t get any closer.
Post play was a big factor in the outcome. Temple had its hands full trying to contain Hill’s 6-10 Monterale Clark, averaging more than 16 points per game. He put in 19 on Saturday, including three alley-oop dunks from point guard Eric Tisby.
“I told (Temple post Russ Permenter) whoever has the better game is going to win,” Johnson said.
For most of the game, Temple High School graduate Permenter actually held his own offensively, leading all scorers with 22 points and making six of Temple’s seven free throws. But after dominating the boards in the first half, Permenter and the Leopards were outrebounded in the second half by close to a 2-1 margin.
But the Leopards weren’t quite out of it until the final four minutes, when things just fell apart. After Temple’s Chris Ellis hit a jumper to cut the lead to 76-68 near the 4-minute mark, Temple’s defense created a couple of turnovers and the offense drew some fouls, but Permenter and Sean Jones both came up empty.
Later, trailing 78-68, the Leopards’ Davon Morrison stole the ball at the top of the key and went in for an easy basket to cut the lead to eight. Shortly after Hill inbounded, the Leopards got another steal, but an errant pass from Ellis to Jordan Brown gave Hill the ball right back.
“I don’t know who he is throwing to,” Johnson said of Ellis’ pass. “It wasn’t a good pass and it wasn’t a good catch. So we get a steal and they end up getting the basket.
“It was just very frustrating all around today. Wednesday was a complete team effort in a win; this was a team effort in a loss.”
WOMEN
After being down by 10 points midway through the opening half, the Lady Leopards looked like they had finally found their rhythm.
Brittany Roberson, Mareta Bailey and Courtney Moore led the Lady Leopards on an 11-0 run to take a 24-23 lead with about 30 seconds left in the half and swing the momentum in their direction.
But the Lady Leopards (8-7, 1-1) wish they could have those last 30 seconds back.
Hill’s Dinnelle Cormier got open for an easy shot underneath the basket, then after a steal Ashley Villarreal drained a 3-pointer from the right wing just before the buzzer to recapture the momentum and give Hill a 28-24 halftime lead it would never relinquish.
“It was a tough loss on the road,” Temple coach Kim Sebek said. “It didn’t seem like we showed up to play today and they capitalized on our defensive mistakes.”
Though the Lady Rebels led the rest of the way, they did have to hold off a late furious charge by the Lady Leopards. Baskets by Bailey, Shaquitta Martin and Roberson got the Lady Leopards to 57-56 with just over a minute to play.
It looked especially good for Temple when the Lady Rebels’ Michelle Uzomah was fouled but completely missed both free throws and Temple hauled in the rebound with an opportunity to take the lead.
But a bad pass gave the ball right back to Hill and Temple again had to foul. Cormier made both to give the Lady Rebels a 59-56 lead with 24.7 seconds left. Roberson then drew a foul and made one of two shots to cut it to 59-57 with 13.8 seconds left and Temple again quickly fouled.
This time TC sent Shavonne Butler to the line and she also made one of two, giving the Lady Rebels just a 60-57 lead with 12.1 seconds left, and leaving the door open.
Roberson tried a runner in the lane that was blocked by Stojanna Hollis and Hill iced it with one more free throw with just under two seconds left.
“We couldn’t get free throws to fall,” Sebek said. “We couldn’t score in the paint and we couldn’t get rebounds. It was just an overall struggle for us today."
Roberson led the Lady Leopards with 14 points and Bailey added 13. Cormier led all scorers with 17 points and Villarreal added 12 for Hill.
Temple will be at Ranger on Wednesday, with the women scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m. and the men at 7:30.
mhood@temple-telegram.com
