By By Rocky Higginbotham/The Meridian Star
Jan. 24, 2001
DEKALB Choctaw Central's girls and Kemper County's boys both remained unbeaten in Division 5-3A with wins here Tuesday night.
Neither, however, came as easily as one might think by looking at the final scores.
Choctaw's girls used a big third-quarter run to take a 76-52 win over the host Lady Wildcats, while the Kemper County boys overcame a sloppy fourth quarter to win 78-62.
Kemper County steps out of division action Friday at B.L. Moor, while Choctaw Central has a pair of 5-3A showdowns at Newton County Friday for its next action.
Choctaw Central girls 76, Kemper County 52: The Lady Warriors just couldn't shake Johnny Rush's short-handed Kemper squad at least not until the third quarter.
Kemper County started the game red-hot and was down just 22-17 after one quarter.
Choctaw Central pushed its advantage to double digits at the half, only to see the Lady Wildcats pull within 42-35 on a steal and layup by Melody Nave early in the third.
That was with 6:17 on the clock, and unfortunately for Kemper, it was the last time the Lady Wildcats scored in the period. Choctaw Central scored the next 16 points, breaking open a 58-35 lead.
Crystal Lewis scored 15 points lead Choctaw Central, while eighth-grader Chantay Frazier had 12 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals. Melinda Ben added 12 points, six rebounds and four steals, and Lewis also dished out five assists and had three steals.
The Lady Warriors, who are now 21-3 overall and 5-0 in division play, forced Kemper into 30 turnovers and outrebounded the larger Lady Wildcats 42-38.
Kemper County, 4-19 overall and 0-3 in the division, got 24 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals from Monique Mosley. Nave added 11 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals and Brooke Hudson chipped in eight points.
Kemper County boys 78, Choctaw Central 62: The Wildcats clicked on all cylinders for the better part of three quarters and won despite 23 turnovers.
Kemper County started the game on an 11-2 run, led 22-9 after one quarter and 41-23 at halftime.
Choctaw Central fell behind by as many as 24 in the third quarter, but got as close as 10 late in the fourth behind back-to-back 3-pointers by Julius Willis.
The Wildcats made up for their miscues with a 46-32 rebounding edge, winning their seventh contest in a row and improving to 18-8 overall and 3-0 in the division.
Kenny Boyd pumped in 27 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and had three blocked shots to lead Kemper County. Derrick Boyd had 16 points and eight rebounds and James Moore had a double-double with 10 points, 11 assists and three steals.
Kendrick Gale scored eight points to go with seven rebounds and five assists, and Chris Davis also scored eight for Kemper.
Choctaw Central fell to 8-16 overall and 2-3 in division play despite 17 points, six rebounds and three steals from Tyler Williamson.
Julius Willis threw in 14 points for coach Walter Wilson, while Beasley Willis and Anslem Henry had seven each.
Rocky Higginbotham is the sports editor of The Meridian Star. E-mail him at rhigginbotham@themeridianstar.com.