By By Robbie Robertson/The Meridian Star
West Lauderdale coach Jody Hurst thought it would be Christmas before his Lady Knights started to play well.
It seems Christmas has come early in Collinsville.
West hit nine out of 10 free throws down the stretch as the Lady Knights won their sixth straight contest with a 59-48 win over No. 13 Neshoba Central Monday night in girls prep basketball action.
West improved to 6-2 on the season and will host Newton tonight. Neshoba falls to 3-2 and will host Philadelphia tonight.
West came out hot early as the Lady Knights led 16-7 at the end of the first quarter. But Neshoba fought back in the second and Miranda Rosar's two free throws with no time remaining at the half tied the game at 26-26.
Neshoba never recaptured the lead but got within two twice before West pulled out to a 37-32 lead at the end of the third.
The Lady Rockets pulled to within one on a Krystal Wells running layup with 7:11 left to make the score 37-36.
That's when J.J. Huggins took over with a three-point play and a bucket at the 6:25 mark as West led 42-36.
Neshoba got back to within three at the 2:42 mark on a Tausha Evans three-pointer.
From that point, West outscored Neshoba 11-4 and hit nine out of 10 free throws to take the win.
Evans led all scorers with 21 points while Rosar had eight. Kristina Gardner led West with 18 points while J.J. Huggins had 13 points. Julie McCrory chipped in nine while Jawanda Huggins had eight.
Neshoba Central boys 53, West Lauderdale: 38: Neshoba Central outscored West Lauderdale 36-4 during a two-period stretch as the Rockets took the 15-point win.
Neshoba improved to 4-1 with the win while West fell to 2-5.
Neshoba jumped out to an 8-3 lead but West fought back to make it 8-7. After Neshoba went up 11-7, West scored 10 straight points with the help of two Boo Ramsey three-pointers as the Knights led 17-11 with 6:28 left in the second.
From that point, Neshoba exploded as the Rockets went on an 18-2 run to end the half 29-19. Things didn't get any better for West in the third as the Rockets outscored the Knights 16-2 in the third to go up 45-21.
West made it respectable in the fourth as Ramsey hit three straight threes to get to within 15 with 3:06 left. But that's as close as the Knights got.
Neshoba's Desmond Jones led all scorers with 23 points while Landon Byars added 10 points. Ramsey led West with 17 points while Van Wilson had eight and Calvin Moore seven.
Robbie Robertson is sports editor for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at rrobertson@meridianstar.com.