16 area teams still alive in hoops tourneys

By Staff
Wayne County (28-1) blew out Petal 80-42 behind 15 points apiece from Kacey Wilson and Tedric Rankin.
Gulfport barely avoided extinction despite an untarnished regular season mark as the Admirals had to fend off Ocean Springs for a 52-45 victory on Tuesday. The Greyhounds trailed by only one point with 2:38 remaining, but Gulfport went to its four-corner offense and picked up a pair of layups to advance. Tim Holmes hit a pair of 3-pointers in leading Gulfport with 16 points. Henry Salter added 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Joining Wayne County and Gulfport are Harrison Central (16-9) and Hattiesburg (29-6) who meet at 6:30. Harrison had beaten Pascagoula twice by a combined 38 points during the regular season, but had to hold on for a 48-46 victory over the Panthers on Tuesday. Fred Kennedy led Harrison with 18 points. Hattiesburg beat Northwest Rankin 73-64 with a balanced scoring attack that placed four Tigers in double figures. Hattiesburg was an anemic 17-of-37 at the free-throw line.
In the girls' Class 5A South State Tournament at Waynesboro, the host Lady War Eagles of Wayne County open with Gulfport at 8 p.m. Wayne County (31-1) beat Hattiesburg 54-36 on Monday behind 18 points from Ratassia Worsham, 13 from Natalie Jordan, 12 from Nicole Jordan, and 10 from Carla Bartee.
Gulfport (25-4) ripped Ocean Springs 78-35 with a game-high 14 points from Joanna Williams.
The 6:30 semifinal has Hancock (23-9) meeting Moss Point (25-7). Hancock beat Northwest Rankin 64-55 with Brooke Necaise's 24 points leading the way. Moss Point got 10 points from Angel Liddell and eight each from BranDee Fry and Kenya Smith in its 51-33 victory over Long Beach. Fry also had 13 rebounds and 12 blocked shots.
In girls' Class 4A South State Tournament action at Poplarville, Northeast Lauderdale's 22-13 Lady Trojans face the 23-2 Lady Hornets at 6:30 p.m. in semifinal play.
Northeast upset Brookhaven 55-45 in opening-round action, while Poplarville got 22 points from Kaira Tillman in its 66-42 whipping of Gautier. Poplarville also got 18 points from Sicely Tatum and 10 from Nikki Smith.
Bay St. Louis (24-7) takes on South Pike (28-3) at 8 p.m. in the other semifinal.
In the girls' Class 2A South State Tournament at East Marion, Newton (26-5) gets the defending 2A state runner-up and host Lady Eagles Friday at 8 p.m.
The other semifinal has Bay Springs (21-14) playing Williams-Sullivan (29-5) at 6:30.
East Marion (33-1) defeated Sumrall 35-14 Monday night, limiting the Lady Bobcats to a feeble 3-of-20 shooting performance from the floor. Meanwhile, East Marion had more turnovers (15) than field goals (14). Sumrall used a box-and-one to hold East Marion's Kenisha Daniels, the Lady Eagles' leading scorer, to just four points. Veronica Lee led East Marion with 13.
Newton steamrolled Hinds AHS 69-32.
Bay Springs beat North Forrest 52-51 when Samantha Flennory's third free throw attempt with no time remaining rimmed out. Flennory was fouled on a last second 3-point attempt and hit the first two tries. Kristi Martin had 15 points and Brittany Martin scored 12 for the Lady Bulldogs.
In the boys' Class 2A South State Tournament at Taylorsville, the 6:30 p.m. matchup has Kemper County (27-6) playing Bay Springs (16-15).
Kemper County advanced with a 42-35 victory over McLaurin with James Moore's 13 points leading the way.
Bay Springs got 22 points from Jason Forte in its 62-52 win over Richton.
Taylorsville takes on Madison St. Joseph (17-14) at 8. The host Tartars defeated East Marion 66-58 thanks to an 18-7 third quarter differential. Timothy Brumfield led Taylorsville with 24 points.
In Class 1A South State play at Puckett, Union (19-11), fresh off its shocking 83-78 win at McAdams on Tuesday, gets the host Wolves Friday at 6:30 p.m. Puckett (15-6) trailed Bogue Chitto 69-68 with seven seconds remaining, but Wolves' center Chris Arrington's jumper gave Puckett the 70-69 road win. Puckett was 15-of-25 at the charity stripe. Mario Robinson hit four 3-pointers in leading Puckett with 21 points. Armanda Robinson added 19.
The other game has Dexter (20-7) taking on Durant (13-10). Dexter, the defending Class 1A state champion, shook off seven ties and 14 lead changes to beat Enterprise-Lincoln 75-71 behind 36 points from Tory Crumedy, a 5-foot-9 junior. Durant knocked off Thomastown 88-69 with Jermaine Winters scoring 25 points, Tony Wash 23, and Michael Thomas 18.
In the girls' Class 4A North State Tournament at Jackson Provine, Noxubee County opens with Provine at 8 p.m. The other game has West Point (21-11) squaring off with Cleveland East Side (26-8) at 6:30.
Noxubee County (31-4) got 22 points from Erlexis Cooper in its 80-72 win over Oxford on Monday. Jessica Mason tossed in 21 for the Tigerettes.
West Point won for the 14th time in its last 16 games Monday night with a 53-40 victory at Alcorn Central. Katerina Holbrook led West Point with 16 points, while Cycelia Carr added 13.