Page punches it’s perfect Pirate ticket

The Page Pirate girls and boys remained unbeaten with their victories over WS Reynolds on Wednesday evening at the Mac Morris Gym. The young ladies had an easy time winning 58-21 but the boys game was a completely different story.

The Page boys got the win but it came the hard way in overtime. The Pirates overcame the Reynolds Demons 79-70 with Luqman Tijani leading the way with 23 points. Page had a nice lead in regulation but with turnovers mounting due to poor ball handling and weak inbounds passes, Reynolds got right back in the game. The last 30 seconds of the 4th quarter saw both teams have chances but neither side could finish and put the other team away.

The Pirates had the solid effort from Tijani, a player that Pirate coach Robert Kent said in pre-season, could be the real sleeper in the County. Tijani was on and Page has some very quick guards with Nick Jones, Michael McIntyre, Deonte Maddox and company all contributing. Sophomore Jordan Weethe should help with ball handling and rebounding and Weethe can nail the 3-pointers.(JW had 12 points with two 3-pointers on Wednesday)

Big-man Julius Brooks had a left-side dunk and a right-side dunk about two feet from the basket along the baseline and he finished with 6 points and three blocked shots and probably had around 8-10 rebounds but Julius fouled out and spent much more time on the bench than he did in the game. Brooks has some work to do but I feel certain that Coach Kent and his assistant Brandon Clifford will get it out of him.

The Page girls rolled into the winner’s circle with their 58-21 victory over Reynolds. Jasmine Gill might be the best girl or boy player that I have seen so far in this early season and she is a lean, mean, scoring machine. Gill plays like a guy and she can take it up and down the court on her own, plus she can pull up and shoot a smooth long ball behind the 3-point line. Gill had 16 points against the Demons and the Pirates’ coach had her starters resting much of the second half.

Nini Whitaker, the low-to-the-floor point guard and Bijon Fonville join Gill as returning starters off of last season’s Little Four Championship team. Coach Debbie Jones has her Pirates ready for another big run in 2007/2008. The Page girls and boys are both (4-0) at the beginning of the year and they have a big test coming up on Friday night when the Ragsdale Tigers come over to the Mac Morris Gymnasium.

The boys game might be another OT affair in the makings and as former Pirate assistant coach Brett Speight used to say, “it might be the game of the week, the game of the month, and the game of the year, all round into one”.

5 thoughts on “Page punches it’s perfect Pirate ticket

  1. When is NiNi going to get the respect she deserves? She is a true point guard with a great understanding of the game. She plays her heart out and sets up her teammates well. Because she doesn’t score a lot of points, she don’t get reconize like she should. The kid is an excellent defender, ballhandler, passer, and can knock down the open shot. If not for her floor generalship, they do not win the little four last year.

  2. We will try to keep getting the word out about NiNi and the other players. Thanks for checking in and giving us your opinion. She is little but that helps her as a point guard allowing her to have good handles so she can move the ball. I am glad to see her back this year and sometimes she may get overshadowed by Jasmine, but NiNi is the the floor leader and she is working hard.

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