January 28 was a red letter day for French Camp basketball with the boys and girls teams both pulling off upsets on the road against Ethel.
The Ethel boys team entered the game in first place in Region 5-1A with a 7-0 region record and the Lady Tigers were tied for second at 5-2. The Lady Panthers won 57-48 and the Panthers 53-48.
Girls coach Poly LeVert said it was her team’s best game of the season. “We did a good job handling their pressure.”
Abby Robertson led French Camp with a season best 18 points, including three 3-pointers. Jordan Carter had 17 points and 16 rebounds and Jasmine Bonty14 points and 12 rebounds.
C.J. Johnson had a big game offensively for the Panthers against Ethel with 28 points, but coach Robert Leathers gave much of the credit to two other players. “I had two guys who came off the bench and played well – Adam Atkins and Zach Williams. They did a really nice job on the defensive end. They brought a lot of energy onto the court.”
He added “Ethel got into some foul trouble which really helped us.”
When the teams met Jan. 10 at French Camp, Ethel won the boys game 50-40 and the girls game 38-36.
The victories left both French Camp teams 4-4 in region play prior to Tuesday games at McAdams. The Panthers and Lady Panthers will close out the regular season with home games Friday against Nanih Waiya. McAdams and Nanih Waiya are both region opponents,
The region tournament will be next week at McAdams. Who the French Camp teams play and when will be determined by this week's games.
French Camp also had non-region games last week with Sebastopol. The girls won 41-35, but the boys were defeated 62-38.
The same threesome led the Lady Panthers. Bonty had 16 points and 16 rebounds, Carter 13 points and Robertson 10 points.
“We're seemingly beginning to peak at the right time. I hope that's the case,” LeVert said.
Leathers said it was tough for the Panthers to match up with Sebastopol's size. “They're big. They're 6-4, 6-5 across the front line. Four of the starting five are 6-2 or better.”
Sebastopol broke the game open by outscoring French Camp 16-2 in the second quarter for a 33-13 halftime lead.
Despite the loss, Leathers said Johnson and Darrion Smith, both juniors, played well. Smith scored 14 points and Johnson 11.
Johnson picked up his fourth foul in the second quarter, but was able to play the entire second half without fouling out.
Leathers said Smith has shown significant improvement during the season. “For most of the coaches in the district, if there's one player they are going to talk about, its number 2 (Smith). He's a kid who doesn't know how good he can be.”
