By Staff
IT'S MINE Enterprise's Thea Crouder (35) tries to steal control from Newton County's Mallory Shumake (22) during Tuesday's game at East Central Community College. Photo by Carisa McCain/The Meridian Star
By Marty Stamper / EMG sports assistant
Dec. 4, 2002
DECATUR The Newton County girls are going to provide their fans with a lot of thrills this basketball season if their first seven games are any indication.
In starting out 7-0, the Lady Cougars have won five of their early games by three points or less. Their first-round game in the East Central Community College Classic was no different as they hit two late free throws to ease past Enterprise 47-45.
Enterprise led 15-7 after one quarter and had a 26-16 advantage by halftime.
The Lady Cougars rallied to within 35-31 by the end of the third period and outscored Enterprise 16-10 over the final eight minutes to take the win.
Dominique Mapp led Newton County with 16 points. Kristin Chaney hit three 3-pointers in tallying 10 points. Andrea Dubose scored eight and Mallory Shumake added seven, all of which came in the fourth quarter.
Enterprise got a game-high 26 points from Shonda Bester with 17 of her total coming in the second half. Teela McBride added 11 points.
Action resumes at 4 p.m. today with Neshoba Central taking on Lake and Northeast Lauderdale playing Newton County in the early girls' games.
Girls' action at 7 p.m. has top-seeded West Lauderdale playing Sebastopol and second-seeded Newton taking on Nanih Waiya.
In boys' action at 5:30 p.m., Newton County takes on Neshoba Central and second-seeded Northeast Lauderdale faces Lake. In the 8:30 p.m. games, top-seeded West Lauderdale plays Scott Central and Morton meets Newton.
Newton boys 83
Sebastopol 29
Newton matched Sebastopol's output for the game in the first quarter as the Tigers jumped out to a 29-5 lead. Newton took a 54-10 advantage into halftime.
Fourteen Tigers scored with Coshune Bingham's 17 points leading the way. Laderrian Blaylock tossed in 10, Marcus Wilson had eight, and Cornelius Caraway added seven.
Sebastopol got 11 points from Curtis Price, seven from Alton Clark, and six from Mac McBeath.
Sebastopol girls 69
Morton 57
Sophomore Ashley Johnson scored 32 points to lead the Lady Bobcats past Morton. Sebastopol led 15-10 after one period and carried a 28-26 lead into halftime. The Lady Bobcats upped their advantage to 48-37 heading into the fourth quarter.
Tameka Triplett added 11 points for Sebastopol behind an 11-of-14 effort at the free-throw line. Brittany Gordon scored 10.
Morton got 18 points from Dominique Brooks, 13 from Tyneshia McDonald, and seven each from Makela Evans, Jessica Sparkman, and Tara Grieves.
Nanih Waiya girls 52
Scott Central 41
Nanih Waiya snapped a 9-9 first quarter tie as the Lady Warriors used a 21-14 advantage in the second quarter to carry a 30-23 lead into halftime.
Scott Central got to within two points in the third quarter, but Nanih Waiya pulled out to a 41-35 edge heading into the fourth quarter.
Christy Hickman led Nanih Waiya, 2-0, with 20 points. Ashley Pugh scored 15, Heather Steele had nine, and Jaimee Jones added eight.
Elyse Clay led Scott Central, 4-5, with 19 points. Krystal Erby scored seven and Quarnitra Murray had six.
Scott Central boys 85
Nanih Waiya 52
After winning one game two years ago and four games last year, the Rebels are off to a 6-3 start in the 2002-03 season.
Leading 40-32 at halftime, Scott Central outscored the Warriors 24-4 in the third quarter to up its advantage to 64-36 going into the final period.
Roderick Loper hit three 3-pointers in leading the Rebels with 25 points. Nathaniel McKee scored 16, Courtney McClendon had 12, and MacHandy Bobbit added 11.
Nanih Waiya, 1-1, got 17 points from David Frey, 11 each from Brent Blackwell and Derek Holdiness, and 10 from Rashard Armstrong.
Lake boys 48
Enterprise 43
The Hornets outscored Enterprise 17-10 in the third quarter to break a 15-15 halftime stalemate in beating the Bulldogs.
Lake got 11 points from Willie Hickmon, 10 from Stanley Johnson, and eight from Danny Towner.
Scoring for Enterprise was unavailable due to lack of first names.