By By Marty Stamper/staff writer
Jan. 26, 2002
HEIDELBERG The West Lauderdale Lady Knights got all the good they possibly could have from their Division 5-3A basketball game Friday night.
Not only did they get a road win over one of the top three teams in the league, they also received the maximum number of points (12) a team can receive from a win with their 65-51 victory over Heidelberg.
In the boys' game, the Knights gave the league-leading Oilers their closest division game yet before Heidelberg posted a 67-59 win.
With their win, the Lady Knights improved to 8-1 in 5-3A and 24-3 overall. Heidelberg dropped to 5-3 in league play and 13-11 overall. Also in the mix among league leaders is Choctaw Central at 9-3.
The Lady Knights and Lady Oilers were tied on four occasions and swapped the lead four times in the opening quarter before ending the first eight minutes with a 16-16 stalemate.
After two more ties and one lead change, the Lady Knights took the lead for good with a 7-0 run that put them up 28-21 with 3:47 left in the first half. J.J. Huggins had a basket and a three-point play in the run.
West carried a 36-29 advantage into halftime.
The Lady Knights opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 44-29 and Heidelberg got no closer than seven points the remainder of the contest.
Foul trouble hurt Heidelberg as Catina Fowler picked up her fifth with 5:06 left in the third quarter, Moneshia Cooley exited with 3:41 to go in the game, and Princess Bender fouled out with 2:35 remaining.
Huggins scored 20 points and pulled down 15 rebounds to lead West. Kristina Gardner had nine points and 13 rebounds. Shannon Lloyd added 14 points, while Patty Monroe and JaWanda Huggins both had 10.
The Lady Knights took only one long range shot in the contest after connecting on six 3-pointers in Tuesday's 60-51 win at Neshoba Central.
Heidelberg got 21 points from Jessica Yates, 12 from Bender, and nine from Latoya Walker.
Heidelberg boys 67
West Lauderdale 59
The Knights jumped out to an early 11-4 lead and were up 20-13 at the end of the first quarter against a Heidelberg team that had won its first seven division games by an average of 22 points.
West still had a comfortable 29-21 lead a minute before halftime, but the Oilers closed the first half with a dunk by Derrick Turner and a basket by Jessie Jones to go into halftime down 29-25.
The Oilers exploded for 17 points in the first three minutes of the third quarter to take control. Heidelberg scored 21 of the first 24 points of the second half to grab a 46-32 lead.
The teams will meet again on Feb. 5 at Collinsville.
The Oilers opened the fourth quarter with a 49-37 lead. West promptly scored the first eight points of the final period to get to within 49-43 with 6:36 left. Karlos Lewis had six of the Knights' points during that run.
After Heidelberg got two straight inside baskets from big Fred Stephens, neither team managed more than two consecutive points before the Oilers got four in a row in the final 30 seconds.
Heidelberg got 14 points from Marvin McDonald, 13 from Billy Wright, 12 from Jones, 11 from Turner, nine from Stephens, and six from Joe Agee.
Moore led West with 22 points with 10 coming in both the first and fourth quarters. Lewis had 15 points, 10 of which came in the final period. Ramsey added 10.
Heidelberg improved to 19-5 overall and 8-0 in 5-3A. West fell to 18-8 and 7-2.