Chipola Knocks Off Cape Fear

The Chipola Indians finally made their home debut Thursday night and the nation’s third-ranked team turned a potentially-competitive game into a virtual slam dunk contest.

Casey Mitchell scored 21 points and Torye Pelham added five vicious dunks, four on alley-oops passes, as the the Indians hammered a 4-1 Cape Fear, N.C., team 78-55.

Chipola led 43-22 at halftime and extended the lead to 29 in the second half before an 11-0 Cape Fear run got the Sea Devils as close as 15 points at 61-46 with 8:04 to play.

The Indians answered with a jumper by Mitchell, a put back by Jeremy Jacob and a short jumper by Josh Sain to push the lead back up to 21 with 6:50 on the clock.

Jacob scored 11 points for the Indians, while Pelham scored 10 and Justin Brownlee contributed 10 points, as well as a spectacular, one-handed dunk in the first half that brought the home fans to their feet.

Chipola jumped on Cape Fear right out of the gate, scoring 30 of the game’s first 37 points.

Malcolm Armstead set the tone for the night by picking a Cape Fear guard’s pocket and going in for a lay-up for Chipola’s first points of the game.

Mitchell followed with a three-pointer and a breakaway dunk for a 7-0 lead to start the game.

Another three-pointer by Mitchell put Chipola up 16-5, with a jumper and a dunk by Brownlee, followed by a steal and another dunk by Pelham, put the Indians up 22-5 with 9:38 on the clock.

A two by Sain and a banked three-pointer by Brownlee made it 27-5.

The Indians completed the 22-0 run with an oop pass off the backboard from Armstead to Pelham for a two-handed slam to give Chipola a 24-point advantage.

Another banked three-pointer by Gary Flowers and a reverse lay-up by Mitchell gave Chipola a 37-10 lead with five minutes left in the half.

The Indians will play against St. Petersburg on the road Saturday and return home Dec. 4-6 for the Panhandle Classic.