The Lady Paladins of Pinecrest Academy lost their Dec. 28 tournament game to the Deerfield-Windsor Lady Knights 66-36 during the Macon Christmas tournament. The Knights’ Shelby Cosby led all scorers with 17 points. Pinecrest seniors Annelise Nevarez and Christi Cassandra contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively, in the loss.

On Dec. 29, the final day of the tournament, the Lady Paladins suffered a 55-39 loss to tournament host First Presbyterian Day School. Pinecrest trailed by two points at the half and six points at the end of the third quarter, but their opponents outscored them 20-10 in the fourth quarter. Pinecrest was led by freshman guard Margaret Cassandra with 21 points. The Lady Paladins fell to 5-5, but four of their losses are to Class AAA teams, two of which are ranked in the state’s top four. Pinecrest is unranked in AA classification.

The Pinecrest boys also incurred back-to-back losses. On Dec. 28 they were defeated by Class AAA Deerfield-Windsor School 102-38. Deerfield-Windsor led the entire game behind a 31-point shooting display by senior guard Andre Young, who has signed a letter of intent to play for Clemson University. The Pinecrest team was led by senior guard Michael Metz with 16 points. Late in the first half Metz went down with an ankle injury and did not return.

The following night they also fell to the First Presbyterian Day School 76-67. Ridley Rawson led the victors with 25 points. For the first time in three years Pinecrest had to play without team captain and leading scorer Michael Metz. In his absence senior co-captain Brian Guhde led Pinecrest with 16 points and 5 assists. Also stepping up were seniors Jeff Terry, Brendan Donahue and John Drapeau, each in double figures with 15, 13, and 11 points, respectively. Pinecrest fell to 3-4 on the season.

Both boys and girls go on the road to face Holy Spirit Preparatory School, Atlanta, on Friday, Jan. 4, and Bethesda Day School, Savannah, on Saturday, Jan. 5.