The 26th Annual Purple & Gold Poet Classic kicked
off yesterday (Jan. 3) full of sensational play, spectacular crowd
support, and teams driven to win. The Poet Classic drew teams
from across the nation including Pennsylvania and Vermont, and
included winning programs both on the men's and women's side.
The first match-up of the day which kicked off at 2:00pm
consisted of the women's teams from Swarthmore College (PA)
and Whittier College. The game started off close as the
Garnets of Swarthmore went into halftime down by 8 (43-26) despite
shooting 11-33 (33%) from the field. The Poets on the other
hand shot 14-35 (40%) from the field entering the half and
maintained that momentum as they entered the second as they shot a
stellar 14-27 (52%) from the field and 3-5 (60%) from behind the
3-point arc. The Garnets played aggressively on both ends of
the court and got help from Kathryn Stockbower (10 pts./17 boards)
and Pamela Costello (10 pts./5 boards), while the Poets got
tremendous efforts from Sophomore Kourtney Zilbert (19
pts./7boards/7steals) and Senior Stephanie Anderson (11
pts.).
The second game of the classic pit the women of Castleton
College against the CSU East Bay Pioneers at 4:00pm. The game
started off quickly and full of emotion as the Pioneers entered
halftime leading 34-24 as both defenses allowed their opponents to
shoot 9-30 (30%)-Castleton, 13-47 (28%)-CSU East Bay from the field
in the first half. The Spartans of Castleton came out of the
half reenergized and prepared but shooting 12-33 (36%) from
the field they were unable to catch up to the Pioneers who tallied
the final score winning 71-55. The Spartans were led by Mary
Nienow (14 pts. on 4-9 shooting), and the Pioneers were led by
Morgan Hunter (14 pts.), Amy Elliot (10 pts.), Frieda Li (10 pts./6
boards), and Colleen Cooley who grabbed a game high 14
rebounds.
The third game of the classic pit the men's basketball
team of Chapman University against the Swarthmore Garnets
tip-off was 6:00pm. The game began up-tempo with both teams
running up and down the court but with Chapman's patience in their
offensive sets, the Panthers were able to enter halftime leading
47-25 on a superb 18-27(67%) shooting from the field. The
Garnets in the second half came out firing on all cylinders forcing
the Panthers to shoot 15-25(60%) from the field and 4-11(36%) from
behind the arch, while they themselves shot 12-28 (43%) from the
field. But with the Panthers patience the Garnets were unable
to get close as Chapman won 88-59. Garnets were led by Raul
Ordonez (23 pts./4 boards), and Sam Lacy (8 pts.), while the
Panthers got great scoring efforts from Griffin Ramme (11 pts.),
Jared Kaiser (12 pts./8 boards), and Takeshi Clifford (10 pts.).
In the final game of the day which kicked off at 8:00pm, the
Men's basketball team of Whittier College took on the La Sierra
Golden Eagles. Despite shooting 10-34 (29%) from the field in
the first half, the Poets were still able to use tenacious defense
to force turnovers and take a 10 point lead into halftime
(35-25). When the second half got underway, the Golden Eagles
started to keep the game close as they rallied to get within 4
points, but saw it diminish as the Poets went on a run of their own
and finishing the game winning 82-60 getting help from Seniors
Keegan Hoover (10 pts./4 boards), Jeff McLean (13 pts./4 boards),
Travis Crow (11 pts.), and Sophomore David Hayashi (14 pts. on 4-5
shooting from behind the 3 point arch). The Poets also got
quality minutes out of Sophomore DaMon Perry Jr. who recorded a
game high 9 boards. The Golden Eagles were led by Joshua
Crouch (13 pts.), DePaul Williams (13 pts./8 boards), and Joshua
Zonker (10 pts.).
Recap
Women
Whittier College - 75
vs. Swarthmore College - 52
Castleton College - 55 vs.
CSU East Bay - 71
Men
Swarthmore College - 59
vs.
Chapman University - 88
Whittier College - 82
vs.
La Sierra University - 60
