Polytech Pulls Away Late To Beat Out Smyrna

The Smyrna Eagles came into Polytech High School Thursday night with an upset on their minds, but the North division leading Panthers just would not have it, putting the clamps on the game in the final quarter, and pulling away 55-42.

The Eagles came in strong, outrebounding the Panthers, and attacking the rim at will. Senior Stedman Kpana and junior Jerry Williams went toe to toe with Poly big men Devaughn Mallory and John Pierce Jr. The Eagles combo started strong, giving Smyrna a 17-16 lead after one quarter.

The Panthers would settle down after a while, with Mallory getting into the groove of the game, and take a 26-23 lead into the break. Both teams would play great defense coming out of the break, prompting Polytech to only score 11 in the third, still the Panthers held a 37-35 lead after 3.

In the fourth, it was Polytech who clamped down. The Panthers held Smyrna to just 7 points in the final eight minutes, to take the 55-42 win.

Poly travels to Newark High School on Saturday afternoon, while Smyrna will compete in the Concord Basketball Classic over the weekend.