Week 2 Church League hoops results

Playing with just five players, Pickett Rucker’s iron five kept pace with Providence during the first half behind Kadarian Garnett’s 21 points before halftime.

But Providence extended its seven-point lead after intermission with its own hot shooting as all of its players hit at least one 3-pointer, with five hitting multiple triples, over Pickett Rucker’s zone. Jacob Burge swished three second-half 3s as he led Providence with 17 points.

Garnett led all scorers with 28 for Pickett Rucker.

St. Frances 60, Maple Hill Church of Christ 51

The teams went back and forth during the first half with Maple Hill taking a one-point lead into halftime.

St. Frances picked up the pace with several fastbreak layups to start the second half and sealed the game from the free-throw line. Josiah Smith sank all 10 of his charity tosses and led all scorers with 28 points.

Maple Hill was led by the inside-outside duo of Hanley Sobieszczyk and Phillip Vance, who each threw in 13 points.

Cornerstone Baptist (Carthage) 63, The Redeemed 18

Cornerstone moved to 2-0 behind a stingy defense and a well-run transition attack.

The Redeemed played a tight man-to-man defense that kept the game close in the first half. But Cornerstone’s Paul Byrnes scored 18 of his game-high 28 points in the second half.

Braden Parris paced The Redeemed with six points.

Bethlehem Church of Christ 65, The Rising 61

The Rising got off to a 10-point lead before Bethlehem clawed back to tie the game 26-26 going into halftime.

Neither team had more than a five-point lead for the final 20 minutes of the game.

The Rising was led by the 3-point shooting of Cameron Smith and Dalton King, who knocked down a combined 11 triples.

Bethlehem switched from its usual 2-3 zone to a box-and-one late in the game to match up with King, who collected a team-high 27points.

Mark Sandoval led three double-digit scorers with 35 for Bethlehem.

Mt. Juliet Church of God 54, The Journey Blue 52

Mt. Juliet jumped out to an early lead after Blue’s John Presley went down with a serious ankle injury a few minutes into the game.

But despite trailing by 11 at halftime, The Journey turned things around in the second half by sinking seven 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes. Josh Brown led the charge with four triples after halftime on his way to a team-high 23 points.

But Mt. Juliet Church of God made enough free throws down the stretch to keep The Journey at bay.

MJ Church of God was led by the 25 points from director of youth services Zac Anderson, who knocked down 9 of 12 free throws, including an intentional miss with a second left to deny The Journey an inbounds pass.

The Journey White 85, Generation Changers 48

Four Journey White players scored 15 or more points, led by Kendall Williams’ 25 points, which included three triples. Todd Cross connected for 21, including four 3s.

Despite The Journey’s outside attack, Generation Changers trailed by only 13 at halftime thanks to its post scorers. Thomas Wright racked up 20 points and Arkee Grooms 12, almost all from inside.

Saturday’s games

1 p.m. Pickett Rucker vs. St. Frances

2 p.m. Bethlehem vs. Maple Hill

3 p.m. Providence vs. The Journey Blue

4 p.m. Cornerstone vs. The Journey White

5 p.m. MJ Church of God vs. Generation Changers

6 p.m. The Redeemed vs. The Rising

Standings

Providence|2-0

Mt. Juliet Church of God|2-0

Bethlehem Church of Christ|2-0

Cornerstone Baptist|2-0

Pickett Rucker UMC|1-1

St. Frances Cabrini|1-1

Generation Changers|1-1

The Journey White|1-1

The Journey Blue|0-2

Maple Hill Church of Christ|0-2

The Rising|0-2

The Redeemed|0-2