By By Marty Stamper/The Meridian Star
DECATUR Two days early, the East Central Community College Lady Warriors carved up Mississippi Delta like a Thanksgiving turkey in taking a 74-55 win.
The Lady Warriors improved to 7-1 with the win with their only loss coming at Bishop State which was ranked No. 17 in the NJCAA preseason poll.
The Lady Warriors lost one of their top returnees for the season when 5-foot-9 forward Sasha Lilly suffered a torn ACL in the second game of the season.
Sophomore Margo Porter of Louisville tossed in 13 points for ECCC. Freshman Sophia Reed of Forest scored 12 points and had seven rebounds. Sophomore Anna Udicova, a sophomore from Presov, Slovakia, had 11 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Nikki Lacour had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Alberta Norman and freshman La'Shonda Ford both had seven points, while freshman Lori Cumberland had seven rebounds.
The Lady Warriors led 43-24 at halftime and Delta got no closer than 16 points in the second half.
Delta, 2-5, was led by Shirley Gooch's 13 points.
East Central men 105, Delta 94: Matthew Roebuck of Newton County Academy and Brett Augusta of West Monroe, La., both scored 23 points as the Warriors clocked Delta in the late game.
ECCC led 48-43 at halftime, went up 75-58 with 10:40 remaining after back-to-back 3-pointers from Kent Chamblee and Chris Webb, and kept a double-digit lead the rest of the night.
The Warriors, 5-3, also got 18 points from Choctaw Central grad James Denson, 14 from Winfred Craig, and nine from Markeith Brown.
The Warriors lost 103-95 to Holmes in double overtime on Monday.
Delta, 1-6, got 20 points from Nick Seals, 13 apiece from Quincy Liger and Joseph Ballard, and 11 each from Bruce Evans and Reggie Carrick.
Jones women 79, Holmes 70: The Lady Bobcats raced to a 41-27 halftime lead in improving to 5-1.
Tammika Sims of Quitman led Jones with 24 points. Yvonne Phillips tossed in 15 and Courtney McGilberry added 14.
Holmes, 1-7, got 22 points from Gala Jones who hit five three-pointers. Latasha Sumerall had 11.
Jones men 92, Holmes 77: The Bobcats outscored Holmes 55-40 in the second half to improve to 5-1.
Derrick White of Laurel led Jones with a game-high 37 points. Scottie Faulkner of Heidelberg tossed in 14, LaCederick Pettway scored 13, and Omar Barlett had 11.
Jonathan Small led Holmes, 3-5, with 20 points. Rod Newton scored 19 and Greg Tucker added 14.
Marty Stamper is a sports correspondent for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at sports@meridianstar.com.