News

Ponder gets revenge by ousting Arp


AUSTIN -- Revenge was especially sweet for Ponder on Friday morning.


Two years after falling to Arp in the Class 2A state championship, Ponder knocked the Tigers out of the hunt for another. Behind an aggressive defense and accurate shooting, the Lions roared past Arp early and cruised to a 51-34 victory in a 2A state semifinal at the Frank Erwin Center.


"It was real motivation for us after losing to them two years ago," senior forward Nathan McPherson said. "We really wanted this win."


McPherson helped the Lions (38-2) get it with a solid performance that ended with a game-high 18 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore center Scott Gregg came off the bench to add a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.


Ponder will face Jim Ned, a 62-41 winner over New Waverly, in the 2A state championship Saturday at 2 p.m.


The Tigers (22-4) never really had a chance, opening the game hitting just 1 of their first 11 shots. Arp struggled to get open looks throughout the game, and when it did, they struggled to connect.


Ponder held the Tigers to just two points in the first quarter and jumped out to a 14-2 lead early, with McPherson scoring 10. Arp closed the gap to 17-13 on a LaVocheya Cooper jumper, but never got closer the rest of the way.


Ponder coach Doug Boxell credited his defense with getting the team off to a hot start.


"It was big," Boxell said. "We know our defense is the strength of our team and if we could keep them from getting easy baskets we could win."


Arp finished the game shooting just 29 percent from the field and no player shot better than 45 percent. Cory Walker paced the Tigers with 10 points, while Iowa State football signee Sedrick Johnson struggled with just eight points, eleven rebounds and five turnovers.


"We just didn't play our best game," Arp coach Brian Keith said. "We picked the wrong time to have a bad game."


To see the game photos, click here.

Date of Article: Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:12 pm

Scores/Schedules

College News

Cajuns, Blue Raiders Square Off


Joe Craddock has completed 63.4 percent of his passes for 2,435 yards.
The red-hot Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders will try to close out their regular season on a high note when they take on the UL-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns at Cajun Field. The Blue Raiders played extremely well of late and come into this matchup with a three-game winning streak. The last time MTU was on the court the team grabbed a thrilling, 52-13 victory over North Texas. With the win over North Texas, the Blue Raiders pushed their conference ledger to 3-3. Unfortunately the Blue Raiders have struggled on the road this season, losing five of their six matchups outside of Murfreesboro. As for the Cajuns, they head into this matchup in the midst of a three-game slide. The last time ULL was on the field the team suffered an embarrassing, 48-3 setback to Troy. The loss dropped the Cajuns' league ledger to 4-2 on the season. The Cajuns have won four of the last five matchup against Middle Tennessee and now own a slim 5-4 lead in the all-time series between the two schools on the gridiron.

The Blue Raiders have been mediocre at best offensively, racking up a pedestrian 343.1 total ypg, which has led to an average 22.4 ppg. The majority of the team's success has come from the pass, as MT is producing 241.6 ypg through the air, and out of the 29 touchdowns scored by this unit, 16 have come via the pass. Joe Craddock has done a commendable job under center for the Blue Raiders, completing 63.4 percent of his passes for 2,435 yards. The quarterback comes into this matchup with 13 touchdowns and only six interceptions. In the recent contest with North Texas, the Blue Raiders tallied 489 total yards, and it was good enough for MT to roll to a convincing victory. Craddock had a solid showing, throwing for 251 yards and one score on 19-of-31 passing. Phillip Tanner, who has been inconsistent throughout the season, was the main source of production, as the tailback rushed for 159 yards and five touchdowns. ... Continue

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