By Staff
Track meet to have three divisions
The Alabama High School Athletic Association State Indoor Track Met is set for Feb. 1-2 at the Valley Sports Coliseum in Priceville.
The meet will be broken down into three divisions, instead of the two that was printed in the 2002 AHSAA Winter Sports book.
The competition will be for classes 1A-4A, 5A and 6A. The meet begins at noon on Feb. 1 with the 3200 meter run finals and the four field events. The last event of the day is the 800 meter relay finals at 4:45 p.m.
The meet picks back up the next day on Saturday morning at 9:30 and concludes at 5:25 p.m. with the awards presentation.
Austin Bishop
Southern Choctaw Indians on hot streak
The Southern Choctaw Indians knocked off Choctaw County 63-52 recently to extend their winning streak to eight games.
Southern Choctaw, 10-2, got 18 points from Marlon McMillian, 12 from Bernard McGrew, and 10 from Larry Campbell.
Hashim Dixon led Choctaw County with 10 points.
– Marty Stamper
Noxubee County boys in Magic City tourney
The Noxubee County Tigers went 1-1 in the Magic City Classic in Birmingham, Ala., last week. The Tigers opened with a 44-30 win over the Ramsay JV team, then lost 54-47 to Jackson-Olin.
Jackson-Olin improved to 7-10 after starting 0-5 with an extended football season and some players out with injuries.
Noxubee got 16 points from Delvin Young and 12 from Omar Conner against J-O.
J-O eventually won the championship without having to score in the finals. The Mustangs were scheduled to face Wheeler High of Marietta, Ga., for the title, but Wheeler had to forfeit as a Georgia rule prevents a school from playing more than one game in the same day.
As a courtesy to the fans, Woodlawn played J-O in what would have been the main event. It was the third game of the day for Woodlawn.
– Marty Stamper
MPSA Central Mississippi Classic team named
Quite a few area athletes were chosen to the all-tournament basketball teams in the MPSA Central Mississippi Classic at East Central Community College last week.
Girls chosen were Greggina Tadlock and Kristin Caldwell of Leake Academy, Blair Johnson and Jessica Harpole of Kemper Academy, Leslie Hancock of Central Academy, Casey McMahan of Newton County Academy, Myleia Shirley of Lamar School, Kassie Buck of Indianola Academy, Mary Claire Cadenhead of Washington School, Ashley Johnson of Starkville Academy and tournament MVP Jessica Wall, also of Starkville Academy.
Making the boys' team were Drew Wolverton and Luke Culpepper of Leake Academy, Adam Davis of Kemper Academy, Blake Bass of Heidelberg Academy, Caleb Metts of Winston Academy, Wil Bean of Newton County Academy, Glenn Ulrich of University Christian, Will Dottley of Washington School, Joby Garner and Andrew Pylate of Starkville Academy and tournament MVP Ed Phillips, also of Starkville Academy.
– Marty Stamper
Former players now coaching in prep ranks
Among the former college basketball players who now coach high school teams that have played in the area recently are David Midlick, who coaches both the boys and girls at Washington School, and Al Perry, who coaches the Pearl Pirates.
Midlick played at Ole Miss in the 1990s, while Perry played at Mississippi State in the late 1970s.
State players must be popular in Rankin County as former Bulldog Greg Carter leads the Brandon Bulldogs.
– Marty Stamper
Hosey Jones has Lady Oilers pumping
Former Southern Mississippi Lady Eagle basketball player Nedra Hosey Jones has got her Heidelberg Lady Oilers pumping hard heading into the 2002 portion of its schedule.
The Lady Oilers knocked off both Newton and Laurel right before New Year's to move their record to 10-6. Both of the victims had just one loss before meeting Heidelberg.
Jones was the Gatorade Player of the Year in 1993 leading Bay Springs to two straight Class 3A Championships. In her junior season, she teamed up with current WNBA star and former Florida Lady Gator great Muriel Page.
Heidelberg will have to look forward to stepping back into the rugged Division 5-3A.
Jeff Byrd
Williams battle pneumonia
Heidelberg Boys Coach Ted Williams has been battling elements of pneumonia. The illness caused him to miss a handful of Oiler games which included a close win at Laurel and a tough 52-51 loss to Taylorsville in the Bay Springs Round Robin.
Williams was back on the bench the day after the Taylorsville loss.
Jeff Byrd
Newton Coach wants to team to rise up
Newton Coach Crandal Porter was disappointed his team didn't rise to the occasion when they took on Heidelberg in the Bay Springs Round Robin.
The Lady Tigers had entered the tourney with an impressive 10-1 record. They left with an 11-2 mark which included Friday's 83-74 loss to the Lady Oilers.
Porter says the Lady Tigers will have several challenges coming to 2002 in their division.
Jeff Byrd
Tough schedule prepares Scott Central
The Scott Central Lady Rebels faced a rugged schedule in the first half of its prep basketball season.
The club was 10-5 heading into the Forest Invitational which features many of the area's top girls such as West Lauderdale and Forest.
In its first 15 games, the combined record of Scott Central's
opponents stands at 51-13, a winning percentage of 79.68 percent.
The Lady Rebels are 3-2 in the tough Division 5-2A league which features unbeaten and 15-0 Williams &Sullivan along with the 11-2 Newton Lady Tigers. Those two teams handed Scott its only division losses.
Scott has beaten division foes South Leake, Enterprise and Clarkdale.
Jeff Byrd
Southeast stays home
Having won the State 3A Girls Championship last year, one would have thought that the Southeast Lauderdale Lady Tigers would have a full holiday menu.
That was not the case. Other then beating up 4A Champ Raymond on Dec. 20 55-39, the Lady Tigers of Head Coach Joe Miller enjoyed their time off.
Miller, however, points out that all Mississippi teams will face hard decisions next year.
Jeff Byrd