By By Austin Bishop/The Meridian Star
Dec. 19, 2000
It's not quite Christmas, but Lamar High School head boys basketball coach Todd Yates still got a gift on Monday night.
His Raiders put together a balanced offensive attack that proved too much for Central Hinds Academy, as Lamar won its Division 3-AAA opener by the score of 61-53.
The Raiders have relied on just one or two scorers all year, but on Friday night, every player on the floor was a danger to score.
The Lamar High School girls led by eight points with three minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the visiting Lady Cougars rallied to force the game in overtime on the way to a 48-43 victory.
The Lamar boys and girls play host to Hillcrest Christian School tonight with the girls game tipping off at 6.
Junior point guard Justin Brewer pumped in a career-high 17 points for the Raiders. Jared McKee led the way with 18 points, while Dusty Jones hit for 14 and two other players hit three baskets each.
The win pushed Lamar to 5-6 on the season, but more importantly the Raiders are now 1-0 in Division 3-AAA action.
Lamar led 15-12 at the end of the first quarter and 29-26 at the half.
The Raiders trailed 24-18 with 4:32 left in the first half, but went on an 11-2 run to take the three-point lead at the intermission.
Central Hinds went on a run to go up 37-32 with 5:46 left in the third quarter, only to have Lamar score 19 of the next 23 points to take a 51-42 lead after three quarters of play.
LHS stretched that out to 61-48 and then held on for the win.
The Raiders committed a season-low 19 turnovers in the game, but continued to struggle from the free throw line, making just 7-of-20 from the stripe.
McKee had 10 rebounds to lead Lamar, while Jones had eight boards and six assists.
Jordan Ash led Central Hinds with 21 points, while Jacob Iles scored 17.
Central Hinds Girls 48, Lamar 43: The Lady Raiders were just minutes away from winning their league opener, but couldn't quite hold on.
LHS was up 36-28 with just over three minutes to play, thanks to a a three-pointer by Myleia Shirley and a putback basket by Libby Huff.
But the Lady Cougars scored 10 of the last 12 points in regulation to tie the game at 38-38.
Lamar took a 39-38 lead on a free throw by Erin Ready, but CHA scored two straight inside baskets to go up 42-39. Melissa Pennington, who finished with 11 points, then hit three free throws to tie the game.
But the visitors scored the next to buckets to take a 46-42 lead with 1:26 to play and Lamar couldn't answer.
Libby Huff led Lamar with 11 points, while Alisa Deviney hit for 17 for CHA and Ashley Murray added 10.