By Staff
AIR MOORE  West Lauderdale's Calvin Moore gets fouled as he goes up for a shot. Photo by Paula Merritt/The Meridian Star
By Marty Stamper/The Meridian Star
Dec. 12, 2001
Basketball fans at Northeast Lauderdale Tuesday night can consider themselves already having opened one of their Christmas presents.
The host Trojans outlasted West Lauderdale for a 98-95 triple-overtime victory to improve to 10-2.
West fell to 10-3 in the matchup between two of the area's top boys' teams.
Much of the night saw the Trojans build a big lead only to have West scrap back to within striking range. That's a familiar pattern between the two this season as they had split two previous meetings.
Northeast scored the game's first nine points and led 22-16 after one quarter.
The Knights fought back to within 24-23 only to have Northeast go on a 12-0 run to take a 36-23 lead with 2:05 to go before halftime.
The Trojans led 38-28 at intermission.
An 11-0 run by the Knights pulled them back to within 48-46, but Northeast scored the final 10 points of the third quarter to take a 60-48 advantage.
West then dominated the fourth quarter 27-15 to end regulation with a 75-75 stalemate.
Both teams scored seven points in the first overtime. The Trojans led 82-79 only to have West's Daniel Huggins bury a 3-pointer with five seconds left to force a second overtime.
Both teams scored four points in the second extra session with West taking an early 85-82 lead on a three-point play from Boo Ramsey only to have Northeast draw even at 86-86 on a basket from Deltric Portis with 1:21 remaining. Neither team could connect again.
The Trojans outscored West 12-9 in the third overtime for the win. Five different Trojans scored in the final frame with Jamaal Martin, who tallied a game-high 33 points, going 4-for-4 at the free-throw line.
Northeast also got 22 points inside from Marcus Betts, 13 from DeKenno Winston, eight each from Portis and Stephen Dyess, and seven from Sanchez Clayton. Two others added two points apiece in the final overtime, baskets that didn't escape Lightsey's notice.
West was led by Calvin Moore's 31 points. Ramsey scored 17, Andre Adams had 13, and Karlos Lewis tossed in 12. Northeast hosts Magee and West hosts Philadelphia in division games Friday night.
West girls 59
Northeast 36
West led 14-8 after one quarter and opened the second period with a 10-0 run to take the drama out of the girls' game early.
The Lady Knights, 10-3, led 29-17 at halftime and were up 47-28 to start the fourth quarter.
JaWanda Huggins turned in a career-high 17 points to lead West.
The Lady Knights also got 12 points from J.J. Huggins, 10 from Cierra Jennings, eight from Kristina Gardner, seven from Patty Monroe, and five from Shannon Lloyd.
Northeast, 5-9, was led by Quin Jackson's 12 points. Shaquita Bell scored eight and Crystal Hopson added six.
Marty Stamper is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at mstamper@themeridianstar.com or call him at 693-1551, ext. 3235.