Southeast, MHS girls eye title

By By Austin Bishop/EMG regional sports director
June 26, 2004
Meridian High School and Southeast Lauderdale will decide the girls Pool I championship at 10:15 a.m. today in the State Games of Mississippi basketball tournament.
The winner of that game will advance into tonight's semifinals at against the Pool II winner at Meridian Community College's Ivy Sports Central. Pool I is being played at Meridian High School, while Pool II is being played at MCC.
Meridian beat West Lauderdale 50-26 and Carthage 57-22 on Friday, while Southeast Lauderdale downed Carthage 46-44 and West Lauderdale 55-37.
New MHS head coach Stephanie Murphy liked what she saw on Friday and saw the State Games of Mississippi as a good chance to see how quickly her Lady Wildcats are coming together as a team.
Southeast Lauderdale lost several key seniors off last year's squad and will be counting on youth this season.
The Noxubee County girls are the only undefeated team left in Pool II. The Tigerettes beat Warren Central 52-48 and Northeast Lauderdale 39-32.
Meridian 50
West Lauderdale 26
The Lady Wildcats put three girls in double figures and held a 26-8 lead at the half against West Lauderdale.
Brittany Davidson led the winners with 12 points, while Whitney Hood and Amber Walker scored 10 each.
Whitney Gale pumped in 11 points to lead the Lady Knights.
Meridian 57
Carthage 22
The Lady Wildcats rolled to a 35-point win over the Lady Tigers behind 15 points from Davidson and 11 from Hood.
Carthage had no players in double figures.
SE Lauderdale 46
Carthage 44
The Lady Tigers of Southeast Lauderdale trailed 20-14 at the half, but poured in 32 second-half points to take the two-point win to open the day's action at Meridian High School.
Martika Ivy led SE Lauderdale with 12 points, while Lucy Ruffin tossed in 11 and Marqueta Reed added 10. Leading scorers for Carthage were not available.
SE Lauderdale 55
West Lauderdale 37
Ruffin scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Lady Tigers to the win over the Lady Knights.
Ivy tossed in 12 for the winners, while Reed added 9. Whitney Gale scored nine to lead West Lauderdale, while Holly Herrington added six.
Noxubee County 52
Warren Central 48
Four Tigerettes scored in double figures as Noxubee County took the key four-point win over the Lady Vikings of Warren Central.
Labrea Jones led Noxubee County with 15 points, while Katoria Walker hit for 11 and Stephanie Stewart and Zirconia Hopkins scored 10 each.
Carla Latham poured in 20 for Warren Central while Solenda Montgomery added seven.
NE Lauderdale 49
Neshoba Central 31
The Lady Trojans won their opener by 18 points over the Lady Rockets.
Quita Bell led NEL with 13 points, while Shirlonda Jackson added nine. Danita Willis led Neshoba Central with 10.
Noxubee County 39
NE Lauderdale 32
The Lady Trojans made a strong run at Noxubee County, but the Tigerettes were able to hold off NEL to remain undefeated.
Scorers from this game were not available.
Warren Central 56
Neshoba Central 22
The Lady Vikings led by 22 points at the half on the way to the win over Neshoba Central.
Montgomery scored 13 points to lead Warren Central, while Cookie Johnson scored 10 and Latham added nine.
Kristi Pilgrim led Neshoba Central with eight.
Today's games
At Meridian High School, West Lauderdale faces Carthage at 9 a.m., Meridian takes on Southeast Lauderdale at 10:15 a.m., West Lauderdale plays Noxubee County at 2 p.m. and Meridian faces Warren Central at 3:15 p.m. The girls semifinal between the Pool I and Pool II winners is set for 8 p.m. at Meridian Community College.
At Meridian Community College Ivy's Sports Center, Northeast Lauderdale plays Warren Central at 9 a.m., Neshoba Central takes on Noxubee County at 10:15 a.m., Carthage play Northeast Lauderdale at 2 p.m. and Southeast Lauderdale faces Neshoba Central at 3:15 p.m.