By: Sam Meyers
Published: January 11, 2009
The Lady Pirates pulled in another win Jan. 4 and are now ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 6 in the nation. The team defeated Tallahassee Community College by 13 points, 69-56. Jasmine Payne, top scorer of the night, frightened some Eagles with her striking talent on the court by scoring 24 points.
Payne is a transfer student from the University of South Carolina and just became eligible to play.
By the end of the first half, PJC was winning 40-28. The second half brought on some heavy playing by both teams.
“Let’s play with passion,” shouted Coach Chanda Rigby to her players on the court.
Free throws helped the Lady Pirates pick up the score with an impressive 77.8 percent made free throw attempts. Although Geneshia Dunbar fouled out of the game with only a few minutes left, the Lady Pirates were victorious once again.
The men’s basketball team pumped up the crowd with a win, 62-55 against the Tallahassee Eagles on Wednesday night as well. The gym was filled with eager fans, including World Champion Boxer, Roy Jones Jr. The fans and team were filled with excitement to win the game, especially after a disappointing loss on Jan. 10.
“It was a big game. We did some soul searching and came out focused. We are back in the race and its fun to be in the thick of it,” said Coach Paul Swanson.
Halftime proclaimed a 27-26 score with PJC in the lead. Virgil Philistin heated up the gym floor by scoring a total of 17 points during the game with intense 3 pointers and free throw shots. Paris Carter came out of the locker room energized. He scored two jaw-dropping dunks during the first part of the second half. The game was coming to a close when Tallahassee scored the final points ending the game 62-55.