Quitman closes regular season with sweep of Clarkdale

By By Jamey Lanier/Special to The Star
Feb. 10, 2001
The Quitman boys and girls basketball teams traveled up highway 45 Friday night and took a pair of games from Clarkdale.
Quitman girls 45, Clarkdale 32: The Lady Panthers used a full-court-press and and tight man-to-man defense to shutdown the Lady Bulldogs in the second half and cruise to the win.
Clarkdale led 17-13 at the half, but Quitman turned up the defense and held the Lady Bulldogs until JorD'an Orr sank two free throws with 3:32 left in the third quarter.
The Lady Panthers reeled off nine unanswered points to start the second half and outscored Clarkdale 20-4 in the third quarter.
Quitman kept up the pressure in the final quarter and kept taking advantage of Clarkdale turnovers to take the win.
Both teams return to action next week in division tournaments, with Quitman traveling to Mendenhall for the Division 5-4A tournament while Clarkdale hosts the Division 7-2A Tournament.
Quitman boys 81, Clarkdale 43: Quitman coach Steve Hampton saw his team heed his instructions Friday night to take the victory. "I told them to make plays, play hard and give good effort," said Hampton. Mission accomplished.
Quitman got a balanced scoring attack with five players hitting for double-figures and each player on the team scoring.
The game marked the last regular season contest for Clarkdale coach Ronnie Roberts, who is retiring after 16 years at the school.
Clarkdale came out and matched the athletic Panthers to keep it close before Quitman started pulling away.
The Panthers led 18-10 after one quarter of play.
The Panthers kept pouring it on in the second period and stretched their lead to 43-21 at the half.
The second half was all Quitman as both coaches went deep into their benches before this one was over.
Both teams will hit the hardwood again next week taking part in Division tournaments.