By By Austin Bishop/EMG Regional Sports director
January 4, 2003
Spurts were the name of the game for the War Eagles and Lady War Eagles of Wayne County on Friday night, as both teams took advantage of second-quarter runs on the way to a two-game sweep of the host in the Northeast Jones Basketball classic.
The Lady War Eagles used a 12-2 run to turn a 20-18 game into a 12-point halftime on the way to a 78-55 win.
The boys games was also close for a very little while.
The 10-1 War Eagles ripped off 15 unanswered points in a two-minute span late in the first half to turn a 34-22 advantage into a 49-22 lead on the way to a convincing 87-50.
The 10-5 Wayne County girls and the 10-6 Lady Tigers of Northeast Jones were tied at 14-14 at the end of the first quarter of play.
After the Lady War Eagles scored the first six points of the second quarter, Kim Lewis hit back-to-back baskets for the Lady Tigers to cut the WCHS lead to 20-18.
Then Wayne Co. changed to a man-to-man defense and went on its run to pull out to a 32-20 halftime lead.
Northeast Jones coach Vicki Rutland said she was very pleased with the way her team worked hard and fought throughout the game, but said some defensive breakdowns hurt her team.
Northeast Jones made several runs in the second half, but every time the hustling Lady Tigers began to close in on double figures, Wayne County would answer with a big basket of its own.
Wayne County led 54-39 at the end of the third quarter and then outscored the home team 24-16 in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Junior point guard Ratassia Worsham did a wonderful job running the offense for the Lady War eagles, as well as pumping in a game-high 25 points.
Sonya Henderson scored 24 for the winners, while Carla Bartee added 18.
Taphne Jackson scored 17 and Lewis had 16 for the Lady Tigers.
In the boys game, Wayne County led 25-14 at the end of the first quarter and was up 34-22 with four minutes to play.
That's when the War Eagles turned it on and put the game away.
It was the War Eagles second straight win in the Northeast Jones Classic, after winning three straight in a tournament in Gulfport last week, knocking off the likes of Brother Martin (New Orleans), Baldwin (Ala.) County and Byhalia.
Dietric Slater led Wayne Co. with 22 points, while Jake Allen scored 14, Cedric Jones hit for 12 and Akeem Lofton had 10.
Kevin Ducksworth led NE Jones with 13, while Dantel White hit for 11.