By By Jeff Byrd/staff writer
June 28, 2003
For a half, Southeast Lauderdale was beating Meridian on the backboard and that was keeping coach Ryan Miller's Tigers in the game with the defending gold medal champs of the State Games of Mississippi.
Things turned sour for Southeast in the second half as an eight-minute offensive drought evaporated the Tigers offense. Meridian, meanwhile, attacked the rim relentlessly and the end result was the team's third straight blowout win in Pool I.
Meridian moved to 3-0 in pool play with the 63-38 rout. The Wildcats will likely have just one game on Saturday as the Wayne Academy boys may be pulling out of the competition after three games.
The Wildcats wrap up pool play tonight at 7:30 p.m. here at Northwest Junior High. Southeast, 2-1, will face North Forrest at 11:20 a.m. The Tigers last game was suppose to be Wayne Academy.
Meridian head coach Ernie Watson said his team began playing like it should in the second half.
Southeast was getting a good scoring game inside from Chris Gordon in the first half as the forward had nine points to help the Tigers grab a 27-26 lead. Meridian, though, got four points to end the half including two free throws from E.J. Hampton to make it 30-27 at the half.
The Wildcats then went on an 11-0 run to open the second half extending the margin to 41-30. A 14-2 spurt closed the door on the Tigers as Meridian enjoyed a comfortable 55-32 lead with five minutes to play.
JaColby Davis led Meridian with 16 points. Hampton and Chris Harris each had 12 points and Daniel Boyd had eight.
Gordon led Southeast with 11.
Southeast Lauderdale 46
Neshoba Central boys 42
Southeast started its day by beating Neshoba Central for its second straight four-point win, in Pool I play.
The Tigers got two free throws from B.B. Brassfield with five seconds left to seal the win.
Windham Campbell led Southeast with 15 points. Chris Gordon and Brassfield each had 11 points.
Eric Truss led Neshoba Central with 17 points. Anthony James added 10.
Southeast led 22-18 at the half. It was still a four-point game when Campbell hit back-to-back three-pointers to hand the Tigers a 44-34 advantage.
The Rockets answered with seven straight points including a three from Truss to make it 44-41 with 20 seconds to go.
Noxubee County 55
Northeast Lauderdale 45
In a Pool II game, Noxubee County won its second game of the tournament by beating Northeast Lauderdale 55-45.
Brandon Tate tossed in 17 points and LaQuanta Horne chipped in 12 to pace the Tigers. Tim Lowery had nine.
Northeast Lauderdale was led by Alex Ford with a game high 20 points. Ford made 10 baskets, five in each half. Harold Grace chipped in 14 points.
Meridian girls 69
Kemper County 20
The Meridian High Lady Wildcats moved to 3-0 in the State Games by rolling over Kemper County 69-20 at Northwest on Friday afternoon.
Courtney Wade poured in 22 points. A. Walker had 10 and Brittney Davidson chipped in seven for Meridian.
Quitman boys 46
Meridian B-team 42
Quitman scored six points in overtime to beat Meridian High's B-team 46-42 on Friday at Northwest.
Prince Trotter scored 14 to lead Quitman. Terrance Lewis added eight for the Panthers. The Meridian B's were led by Bruce Pope with 11 points.
North Forrest boys 75
Wayne Academy boys 48
North Forrest rebounded from Thursday's big loss to Meridian by beating Wayne Academy 75-48.
Corey Breland led the Eagles with 23 points. Ray Chisolm tossed in 12 and Everette McKellan had 11.
The Jaguars were led by Patton Stanley's 12 points.
Noxubee County girls 50
Northeast Lauderdale girls 47
Brittany Tate scored six points in overtime as Noxubee County beat Northeast Lauderdale 50-47 in a matchup of Class 4A teams.
Tate would finish with 15 points to lead the Lady Tigers. Point guard Theresa Brandy added 11 points and Zirconia Hopkins chipped in seven.
Warren Central girls 46
Wayne Academy 35
Wayne Academy gave one of the state's largest schools fits before falling late in Friday's opening game of the second day of the State Games of Mississippi.
Warren Central, a Class 5A power in the MHSAA, led MPSA Class A Wayne by just five, 29-24, at the half.
Wayne Academy was led by Erin Wood who tossed in 16 points.
The Lady Vikings received balanced scoring from four players. Johnson had eight while Willis added seven and two more had six apiece.
Columbia boys 61
Noxubee County 57
Columbia picked up its second win in its State Games pool with a 61-57 win over Noxubee County on Friday morning at Northwest.
The game was tied 54-54 at the end of regulation.. Columbia scored seven in the extra period to take the win.
Brandon Medous led Columbia with 22 points. Nick Expose had eight.
Brandon Tate led Noxubee County (2-1) with 24 points.
Noxubee County girls 47
Wayne Academy girls 28
Noxubee County picked up its second win of the day beating Wayne Academy 47-28 on Friday afternoon at Northwest Junior High.
Noxubee County broke out to a 10-0 lead and never trailed in the contest against the MPSA Academy A school from Waynesboro.
Theresa Brandy led the Lady Tigers with 14 points including eight in the first half as Noxubee built a 25-8 lead by halftime.
Corey Walker chipped in 12 points all coming by three-pointer. She hit two in each half. Brittany Tate added nine points.
Wayne Academy, who battled 5A Warren Central in an early morning game, had problems against a quicker Noxubee County team.
Sabrina Davis led Wayne Academy with nine points. Eight came in the second half. Whitney Bunch chipped in seven.