Fri, 01 Feb 2008 09:18:00

Vandals Fall Into First-Place Tie With Bullard

Randal Brewer, Sports Editor

Photo By Randal Brewer Jermie Calhoun gets the basket and the foul against the Brownsboro Bears. Calhoun scored 11 points in a win that pushed the Vandals to a 4-0 district record. A last-second loss to Bullard in the following game dropped Van to 4-1, and a first-place tie.

A last-second shot by the Bullard Panthers came between the Van Vandals and an undefeated first pass through the district schedule.

Trailing 52-51 with seven second left, Bullard scored to take a 53-52 win and a tie with Van at the top of District 14-3A.

The Vandals held Bullard to four first-quarter points, and took an early 12-4 lead. Bullard answered in the second, outscoring Van by a 16-13 margin.

Jermie Calhoun scored nine of his game-high 23 points in the quarter, with five of those coming from the line. Calhoun was a perfect 9-of-9 on the night from the charity stripe.

Bullard turned a 25-20 deficit at the half into a 38-36 lead going into the fourth, outscoring Van 18-11 in the third. Aric Stroop scored eight of his 15 total points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to keep Van from falling to a 4-1 district record.

Only two other Vandals recorded points on the night, as Allan Dike scored eight and Peyton Neill registered six.

Three nights earlier, the Vandals manhandled the Brownsboro Bears by a 60-41 margin. The Vandals scored 19 points in the first and second quarter to take a 38-29 lead at the half.

Stroop scored 10 of his game-high 23 points in the first quarter, and Neill led with six in the second. Neill would finish with 16.

The Vandals stretched the lead in the third, outscoring Brownsboro, 13-9. Stroop scored nine more in the quarter. The Vandals then held the Bears to three fourth-quarter points to win by 19.

Calhoun followed Stroop and Neill with 11 points, Dike scored seven, Jordan Schmid, two and Tyler Sharpe added one.