By By Marty Stamper/The Meridian Star
Jan. 10, 2001
DECATUR Somebody had to get some relief when the Newton County Cougars hosted Kemper County's Wildcats Tuesday night.
Newton County's boys had lost three straight entering the Division 5-3A opener for both schools, while Kemper had dropped four of its last five games.
It was Kemper taking the win, 77-49, behind 24 points from center Kenny Boyd.
The Lady Cougars maintained status quo in the opener as they hammered Kemper 68-40 to improve to 18-2.
Both schools are in tournaments Thursday-Saturday. Kemper is in the Sam Dale Tournament at Northeast Lauderdale, while Newton County is in the Newton County Tournament at Union.
Kemper County boys 77, Newton County 49: It isn't often that Newton County's Tony Smith is dwarfed, but Kemper's big Boyd did just that.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 22-15 first quarter lead behind seven points each from Mario Smoot and Gary Griffin and six from Boyd.
With 2:10 left in the first half, a 3-pointer from Griffin put the Wildcats up 38-19. Kemper carried a 44-28 lead into halftime.
The Wildcats held the Cougars scoreless for the first four minutes of the third quarter as they upped their lead to 51-28.
Boyd finished with 24 points. Griffin scored 15, Smoot had 13, and James Moore added 10. Ten Wildcats scored.
Smith led the Cougars with 16 points. Al Willis had 11, while Mylan Anderson and Delvioun Merrell both had seven.
Kemper County improved to 12-8. Newton County fell to 10-7.
Newton County girls 68, Kemper County 40: It took just 48 seconds for the Lady Cougars to grab a 7-0 lead in posting their sixth straight win.
The Lady Cougars got a basket from Tamekia Foley, a steal and short shot from Stephanie Airhart, and a 3-pointer from Airhart to take a 7-0 lead with just 48 seconds elapsed.
Newton County led 19-4 at the end of the first quarter and held a 33-12 halftime advantage by scoring 10 of the last 11 points in the first half.
In the first half, Newton County made 46 percent of its shots from the field, 12-of-26. Kemper was just 5-of-23 for 22 percent.
The Lady Cougars were even hotter in the second half as they knocked down 58 percent of their floor shots, 14-of-24.
Kemper made 10-of-38 shots from the floor in the second half, 26 percent.
The Lady Cougars led 54-22 to start the fourth quarter.
Foley led Newton County with 23 points, 13 of which came in the third quarter. Lakelia Bogan, April Bufkin, and Yolanda Johnson each had eight, while Airhart and Yvonne Kidd both added five.
The Lady Cougars improved to 18-2.
Kemper, 3-14, got 14 points from Tamician Davis, eight from Candra McCoy, and five each from LaErika Ivy and Melody Nave.