By By Tony Krausz/assistant sports editor
June 28, 2003
DECATUR Heidelberg Academy didn't let the odds being stacked against it get in the way of a spectacular effort in the boys' basketball games at the State Games of Mississippi on Friday.
The Rebels played without their coach, Chris McDaniel, who is a lawyer and had to work Friday afternoon, and at times, the squad's seven players were half the number of their opponents.
Still, HA found a way to take the Choctaw Central Warriors to the limit before falling 52-50 in the fourth game at the Newton County High School gym.
After opening the second half trailing Choctaw Central 27-22, HA's Dusty Bass hit a layup to close the gap to 48-47, with a minute left in the contest.
The Warriors responded with two unanswered baskets, but the Rebels' Ryan Yawn made the opposition sweat out the win, nailing a three-pointer with 17 ticks left on the clock to produce the game's final score.
Scotty Nickey scored a team-high 13 points for the Warriors, and Sean Ahshapanek and Justin Willis added 10 and six points, respectively. Bass scored a team-high 16 points for the Rebels, and Trevor Hickson added 10.
Newton County boys 56
Durant 40
The Newton County Cougars ran away with a close game in the second half over Durant in the final game of the day in their home gym.
Newton County entered the final 14 minutes leading 28-26, and the Cougars went on a 14-5 run over the game's final seven minutes to notch the victory.
James Broach scored a game-high 18 points for the Cougars, and Craig Pruitt and Ricardo Alcantor added 14 and 13, respectively.
Terrence Simmons led Durant's offense with nine points, and Eddrick Boyd and Jeremy Williams each tallied eight.
Newton County boys 62
East Union 34
Newton County opened the five games on tap at its gym with a lopsided victory over East Union.
Ricardo Alcantor and Craig Pruitt each notched 11 points for the Cougars, and Jose Alcantor scored nine in the win.
Jeremy Gambrel tallied a game-high 14 points for East Union, and M.J. McWhorten scored 13 in the loss.
Choctaw Central girls 56
Newton County 43
The Lady Cougars almost erased an 11-point halftime deficit to pull to within 34-32 of the Lady Warriors, but the squad playing on its home court couldn't complete the comeback.
Choctaw Central's Chantay Frazier nearly single-handedly made sure her team didn't squander its double-digit lead.
The Lady Warriors guard scored nine of the team's final 22 points, after the Lady Cougars pulled to within two of the lead.
Kelly Willis scored 17 points for Choctaw Central, and Mystee Dale added 10.
Andrea DuBose scored 15 points for Newton County, and Danielle Gaddis and Neisha Ramsey added 14 and eight, respectively.
Kemper County 54
Cleveland 32
Lanny Fratesi and Carlose Malone each tallied seven points for Cleveland, and Anderson Davis added six in the loss.
No leading scorers were reported for Kemper County.
The Bay Springs girls' basketball team and Newton County begin the final day of competition at the Newton County gym at 10:10 a.m. today. There are six games scheduled for the site.