By By Rocky Higginbotham/The Meridian Star
Dec. 13, 2000
DEKALB Kemper County and West Lauderdale locked horns on the basketball court for the second time in three days here Tuesday night at the Wildcats' Den.
The results were nearly identical to Saturday night in the West Lauderdale Invitational.
Kemper County's boys got a big night from Kenny Boyd in a 60-45 win over the visiting Knights, while the West girls coasted to a 64-43 victory over the Lady Wildcats.
West Lauderdale's girls are now 13-4 on the season, while the West boys are 7-10. Kemper County's boys are now 8-4; the girls are 2-10.
Both teams return to action Saturday, when West Lauderdale hosts Enterprise and Kemper County entertains B.L. Moor.
Kemper County boys 60, West Lauderdale 45: Just like last weekend, Kemper's big man set the tone early and the Wildcats dominated the Knights in the paint. But unlike the last matchup, West was stone cold from outside.
The Knights, who hit 14 three-pointers Saturday, were just 4-of-26 from three-point range in Tuesday's game, and West Lauderdale was outrebounded 49-25 by Kemper.
That was due largely in part to the 6-foot-7 Kenny Boyd, who threatened a triple-double with 24 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high eight blocked shots.
Did it ever. Kemper's Kendrick Gale hit a three-pointer 10 seconds into the game, and at the other end, Boyd swatted away a potential West layup.
The Knights didn't score during the first four minutes of the game, then Boyd threw down a one-handed slam dunk that sparked Kemper to a 14-4 lead after one period.
Kendrick Benneman's steal and slam early in the second quarter pushed Kemper ahead by 15, only to see West close the gap to 23-17 at halftime.
Kemper stretched its lead back to double digits in the third quarter and was up 42-33 heading into the fourth.
There, a three-pointer from Calvin Moore gave West a lift, but Kemper's Gary Griffin answered back with two consecutive baskets to shift the momentum back to the Wildcats.
Griffin (six points, nine rebounds) and his teammates backed Boyd's effort with plenty of balance. Terrance Westerfield scored seven points and had three assists, Derrick Boyd had six points, eight rebounds and three assists, Chris Davis scored six points, Gale grabbed eight rebounds, RonTerrian Dale had six boards and two blocks and Benneman and Mario Smoot handed out four assists apiece.
Moore was a one-man show for West, with team-highs of 17 points, eight rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots. Van Wilson added 11 points and six rebounds, while Karlos Lewis scored eight points and handed our four assists.
West Lauderdale girls 64, Kemper County 43: The Lady Knights finished the first half with a 14-1 run and never looked back as they knocked off the Lady Wildcats for the second straight time.
West was up 17-10 after one quarter, then got eight points apiece from J.J. Huggins and Kristina Gardner during a 27-point explosion in the second period. The Lady Knights led 44-22 at halftime, and Kemper got no closer than 16 points in the second half.
Huggins finished with a game-high 20 points to lead the Lady Knights, while Gardner scored 14 all of them in the first half. Shannon Lloyd threw in eight points for West, which had 11 players score in the contest.
Kemper County was led by Tamician Davis, who scored 15 points, dished out seven assists and had five steals. Brooke Hudson scored 11 points for the Lady Wildcats, while Candra McCoy scored nine.
West Lauderdale forced Kemper into 23 turnovers.
Rocky Higginbotham is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at rhigginbotham@themeridianstar.com.