By By Rocky Higginbotham/The Meridian Star
Jan. 14, 2001
The first two times cross-county rivals Northeast and Southeast Lauderdale met on the basketball court this season, Dorecious Powe had her way with the Lady Tigers.
And the Lady Trojans' senior forward has drawn quite a bit of attention since, especially in Saturday night's title-deciding matchup in the 2001 Sam Dale/Walter Ethridge Memorial Tournament.
Southeast smothered Powe one of the county's top players and held her to just two points as the Lady Tigers rolled past the Lady Trojans 75-49.
Saturday's other girls' game at Northeast saw Kemper County beat Enterprise 71-45.
Southeast girls 75, Northeast 49: The final stat line for Powe, who averages a double-double, read two points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal.
The win gave Miller his sixth Sam Dale title, and it also gave Southeast 10 straight victories. The Lady Tigers, who go to Choctaw Central for a key Division 5-3A game Tuesday, are 18-6 overall.
Southeast started fast behind the hot hand of Monique Horner, who knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and hit all four of her shots during an early 17-4 run by the Lady Tigers.
Southeast led 23-12 after one quarter and 40-24 at halftime.
Northeast fought its way back into the contest in the third, getting a 3-pointer from Jana Olczak during a 9-1 run to help pull the Lady Trojans within 10.
Dan Stegall's troops got as close as 55-47 with 5:11 left on a basket by Quin Jackson, but it was all Southeast from that point. The Lady Tigers finished the game on a 20-2 run, with Horner scoring 13 of those points.
Horner finished 15-of-25 from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, and had a game-high 42 points. She also had 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals.
Kenitta Cooley had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Southeast, while Lesley Ruffin scored eight points and had eight rebounds. Samantha Smith added seven points.
Jackson led Northeast with 26 points and 15 rebounds. Tamara Gibbs and Crystal Hopson each scored eight points, while Olczak added seven.
Kemper County girls 71, Enterprise 45: The Lady Wildcats put together a 19-3 run midway through the first quarter and coasted to their fourth victory of the season.
Kemper (4-16) led 27-12 after one quarter and 39-27 at halftime.
Monique Mosley had a game-high 21 points to go with seven rebounds, seven assists and seven steals for Kemper, while Melody Nave scored 12 points and had five assists. Megan Grace added nine points and Stephanie Nicholson had seven points and seven rebounds.
Jerra Cook led Enterprise with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Shonda Bester added nine points and five steals.
Rocky Higginbotham is the sports editor of The Meridian Star. E-mail him at rhigginbotham@themeridianstar.com.