W. Lauderdale rallies past Neshoba Central

By By Marty Stamper and Robby Atkinson / staff writers
Dec. 3, 2003
DECATUR Trailing 40-39 through three periods, West Lauderdale opened the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run as the Knights defeated Neshoba Central 61-53 in the boys portion of the East Central Classic on Tuesday night.
The 8-2 Knights held a 22-13 advantage over the fourth quarter with Chris Seaphus scoring 10 points, including a 6-of-7 showing at the free-throw line.
Seaphus led the Knights with 24 points. Lee Nelson scored 12, Mark Ford had 10, and Daniel Huggins added seven.
Neshoba Central, 4-8, got 23 points from Eric Smith with 10 coming in the second quarter as the Rockets took a 31-28 lead into halftime. Anthony Jones finished with 11, while Robert Burt and Ken Robinson both scored six.
Newton County 77
Northeast Lauderdale 65
Newton County took a 24-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and never trailed in the victory over the Trojans. Northeast Lauderdale cut the deficit to nine at the end of the first half thanks to some great perimeter shooting from Antonio Clayton.
The Cougars fought off Northeast Lauderdale with a tough full court press in the final quarter to salvage the win. Newton County was led in scoring by Ricardo Alcanter with 29 points, while James Broach and Craig Pruitt each pitched in with 13.
Clayton led the Trojans with 19 points and Alex Ford also had a great night with 16 points from his center position.
Scott Central 71
Enterprise 42
The Rebels had no troubles in taking the win over the Bulldogs to avoid elimination from the tournament. Scott Central jumped out to a 33-23 lead at the end of the first half, but opened the third quarter with a 10-0 run to walk away with the win.
Pierre Barlow led Scott Central with 24 points and Dakarri Murray followed with 14. Scott Mosley led the Bulldogs with 17 points and Patrick Goodwin also added 10.
Morton 74
Newton 52
Chris Lloyd tossed in a game-high 24 points as the Panthers improved to 3-2 with their 22-point win.
Morton led 18-5 after one quarter, only to have Newton battle back to within 34-26 by halftime. The Panthers extended their lead to 51-39 by the end of the third period.
Newton, 3-5, got 11 points from Cornelius Caraway, 10 each from Brandon Shelton and D'Artagan Dawkins, and nine from Kolby Tillman.
Morton also got 13 points from J.D. Ficklin and 11 from Shay Hodge.