Grenada turns back Vikings in RCC clash

Grenada’s Bernard Rimmer was more than Warren Central could handle.

The 6-foot, 8-inch Rimmer scored a game-high 26 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and put on a show with a variety of thunderous dunks as Grenada defeated Warren Central 65-58 in the Red Carpet Classic on Saturday.

“We fell back into our old ways there,” WC coach Jesse Johnson said. “We play one good game, mentally and physically, and then we go back to the mental breakdowns. And they cost us in the end.”

Chico Hunter battled inside to lead the Vikings (8-13) with 21 points and eight rebounds. Both teams shot over 50 percent in the game, but were riddled with passing and dribbling troubles.

Rimmer pestered the Vikings’ offense by playing at the point of the defense, registering five steals for the Chargers (20-7).

“We tried to deny the guards from getting the ball because we figured they could handle the ball pretty good,” said Rimmer, who averages nearly 20 points a game. “We tried to get the guards shook up so we could get some steals and some easy baskets.”

Johnson said Rimmer’s presence on defense disrupted the Vikings’ offense, forcing 23 turnovers.

“Because of the wing-span, it causes problems for your 6-feet guard to try and pass it over,” Johnson said. “When you’re 6-8, you’ve got a big wing-span, and it gave us a little bit of problems.”

The Vikings, however, caused their share of disruptions on defense, forcing Grenada into 27 turnovers.

“We saw they were shaky in the ball handling area,” Johnson said. “That’s why we decided to come with the full-court press the whole game.”

The Vikings led 20-14 following a strong 8-of-13 shooting exhibition in the first quarter, but the Chargers opened the second quarter with a 9-2 run to take the lead. Warren Central led 33-32 at the half, despite going only 4-of-12 from the free-throw line.

Grenada seemed as if it would take a lead into the fourth quarter, but the Vikings’ Rashaun Walker hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game at 48.

Playing without fouled-out starters Desmond Carson and Quinton Jenkins, Warren Central fell behind 53-48 when Rimmer dunked the ball and made his free throw.

The Vikings battled back to within two points when Rimmer again sent down a monstrous slam to give Grenada a four-point lead with 2:17 to play. He said that dunk may have been his favorite of night.

“I don’t know, I had so many,” Rimmer said with a laugh. “Maybe the last one off the rim, I think I liked that one.”

After a Grenada basket, Walker stole the ball and made a layup with 45 seconds left to trim the Chargers’ lead to 62-58. Grenada spent the remainder of time at the foul line.

(G) WC 66, Gulfport 60

Cookie Johnson netted a game-high 28 points and Carla Latham scored eight of her 10 points in the final 3 minutes to lead the Lady Vikes (14-7) past Gulfport.

Warren Central took a 3-point lead into the fourth quarter, but fell behind early on.

The Lady Admirals led 57-56 with 2:55 left when Johnson drove in for a bucket to take back the lead. Latham then started her sprinting antics.

Johnson hit Latham with a baseball throw from the baseline for an easy layup with 2:26 remaining. Moments later, the pair connected on the same play as the Lady Vikes took a 62-57 lead.

But Gulfport didn’t go quietly.

Gail Weary, who scored 16 of her team-high 21 points in the second half, drained a huge 3-pointer to cut WC’s lead to 2. Latham then drove down the lane for a basket and followed with another just before time expired.

Irish beat back St. Al for 3rd time

The St. Aloysius Flashes seemed to be missing something on Saturday.

Namely, layups, 3-pointers and free throws.

St. Al shot a dismal 34 percent from the field, were only 3 of 17 on 3-point attempts, and 8-for-18 from the foul line as it lost to Greenville-St. Joe for the third time this season, 53-45 at the Red Carpet Classic.

Walter Howard had a game-high 18 points for St. Joe (12-11), Rodney Esters had 16, and Robert Johnson added 14 points and eight rebounds.

Kyle Richards and John David Hosemann had 16 points apiece for St. Al, and Anthony Rector had 13. They were the only three Flashes who scored.

“We missed so many layups I can’t even count. Six or seven, easy, with nobody on us. We missed free throws … If we made those we should have been up six or eight,” said Rector, who also had eight rebounds and four steals. “It is frustrating. We played them three times and have come close each time. And this time it’s not any better.”

St. Al seemed to have a love affair with the 3-point shot early on, but it wasn’t mutual. Eleven of the Flashes’ 20 shots in the first half were from beyond the arc, and they hit only three.

Despite its long-range struggles, however, St. Al did a good job of cleaning up St. Joe’s misses and took a 19-16 lead into the halftime break.

The Irish were just 5-for-17 from the field in the first half, but finally got untracked late in the third quarter. Esters hit a pair of 3-pointers to key a 12-2 run in the last half of the period as St. Joe took advantage of several St. Al turnovers and surged to a 39-29 lead.

“We turned up the defense, the press, got some transition buckets, then we go into the halfcourt and slow it down and really work it,” St. Joe coach Richard Hodges said. “Teams don’t like that on the other side of the ball.”

St. Al clawed its way back into the game in the fourth quarter, and cut the deficit to four points on several occasions. It forced St. Joe into three missed shots in a 30-second span with under two minutes to play, but couldn’t grab a rebound on any of them.

Finally, with 54.4 seconds remaining, St. Al’s David Weiland fouled Johnson as he drove through the lane. The referees ruled it an intentional foul, though, giving the Irish two shots and the ball.

Johnson hit both free throws, and Cody Tullos added two more on the ensuing possession to give the Irish a commanding 51-43 lead. St. Al’s Brian Dyess missed a 3-pointer on the Flashes’ next trip up the floor, and Howard put the icing on the cake with two more free throws.

Richards hit a layup for St. Al as time expired, but it was far too late to make a difference.

“We just got out of rhythm. We forgot how to play as a team there for about the second half,” St. Al coach Paul Hayden said. “We were trying to do everything by ourselves and got away from what our gameplan was, and that’s to keep them away from the ball.”

(G) St. Al 52, G’ville-St. Joe 37

A little over 14 hours after suffering a heartbreaking loss to Enterprise, St. Al bounced back with a rout of Greenville-St. Joe in the opening game of the Red Carpet Classic.

Sarah Kerut paced St. Al with 15 points, LaJauna Thomas added nine, and Laura Beth Lyons had eight. Cristina Bray led St. Joe (0-22) with 15 points and Sarah McDowell had nine.

Enterprise beat the Lady Flashes on a pair of free throws with under a minute to play on Friday, but Saturday morning’s game wasn’t even close. St. Al jumped out to a 30-12 halftime lead and never looked back.