photo by Wesley Hallman

Shelby County High School junior guard Ty Lollar drives down the lane between two Calera defenders in the Wildcats' 103-65 win Dec. 8 over the Eagles.

Shelby County boys, girls pound rival Calera

By Wesley Hallman (Contact) | Shelby County Reporter

Published Wednesday, December 9, 2009

COLUMBIANA — Shelby County High School boys' basketball coach Charles Dickinson said it didn't matter.

Dickinson doesn't care if it's ever happened before.

In his mind, the fact that his Wildcats led rival Calera by as many as 40 points throughout the fourth quarter in a 103-65 win meant only one thing - a Shelby County victory.

"The margin of victory never matters in this series," said Dickinson, who couldn't remember beating the Eagles by 38 points previously. "It's only whether you win or you lose. It's one win, and it's one loss."

Senior guard Jordan Simon sparked a tremendous shooting night by the Wildcats, who had six double-figure scorers in the game. Simon led Shelby County (4-1) with 26 points. The Wildcats buried 11 3-pointers during the contest and outscored Calera 32-13 in the third quarer.

Dickinson said moving Simon from point guard to shooting guard during the offseason should free him up for more scoring opportunities during his final season.

"We know one thing," Dickinson said, "Jordan is a scorer. He's probably going to have some games like this. We should be seeing more of that."

Freshman forward Tyler Madison added 16 points. Tae Lewis scored 12 points. Chris McDowell, Ty Lollar and Kevin McNorton finished with 10 points each.

Sophomore point guard Deondre Haynes led Calera (3-5) with 21 points. Blayne Sumerall added 19 points and Ronnie Clark finished with 10 points. The trio accounted for 50 of Calera's 65 points in the game.

Shelby County jumped out to a 28-15 lead after the first quarter. Calera cut the lead to 36-26 early in the second quarter, but that was the extent of the Eagles' threat.

Shelby County extended its lead to 52-35 at halftime before pouring it on in the third quarter. The Wildcats led 84-48 entering the fourth quarter.

Calera coach Robert Burdette said his team has a ton of room for improvement.

"We're not very good," Burdette said. "We've got a lot of work to do. When you struggle, you've got to find the answers."

Burdette is confident the Eagles can turn things around before the end of the season.

"If we played eight games, we'd be dead in the water," Burdette said. "But we don't play eight games."

Burdette, who has seen his share of talented teams, said the Wildcats are a dangerous squad in Class 5A.

"They've got good guard play," Burdette said. "They can handle the ball and they definitely shoot the ball well. They've probably got as good of an inside game that they've had in years. They're pretty good."

The Wildcats' only loss came Dec. 1 at Vincent, a team they beat by 25 points in late November. Shelby County played without starting guard Lewis, who sat out due to an illness.

Dickinson doesn't want to put too much pressure on his players after their quick start to the 2009-2010 season.

"They're trying to find an identity," Dickinson said. "They're beginning to play extremely well together. I just expect them to play hard every night."

GIRLS

Shelby County outscored rival Calera 22-2 in the third quarter as the Wildcats picked up a 57-33 win over the Eagles.

Ashley Mizzell and Whitley Green led Shelby County with 12 points each. Alysia Perkins added 10 points. Aulicia Nunn finished with seven points.

Alicia Roper led Calera with nine points. Taylor White and Kendra Holmes added seven points each.

Calera's aggressive defense in the first half allowed Shelby County to take advantage of opportunities at the charity stripe, as the Wildcats' were already in double-bonus early in the second quarter.

After leading 31-9 at halftime, the Wildcats began the second half with a 10-0 run and led 53-11 at the end of the third quarter.

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