By By Cassie Chance/The Meridian Star
Jan. 10, 2001
After scoring a close overtime win against Southern Choctaw Saturday night in the Enterprise Tournament, Dan Stegall's Northeast Lauderdale Lady Trojans found themselves in another close game on Tuesday night against Division 5-4A foe West Jones.
The Lady Trojans out-scored the Lady Mustangs 19-14 in the fourth quarter to take a 52-49 victory at Northeast.
West Jones opened the game with a 7-0 run before Tamara Gibbs got the Lady Trojans on the scoreboard. However, the Lady Mustangs were still holding a 17-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Northeast bounced back at the beginning of the second quarter with help from Crystal Hopson and Quin Jackson. The duo went on an 8-0 run before West Jones answered back with six points of its own.
The slim lead advantage went to West Jones at the half, as the Lady Mustangs were up 23-21.
The Lady Trojans continued their run in the third quarter as Gibbs and Dorecious Powe both nailed shots to pull the Lady Trojans close. Jackson's layup with 4:40 left in the quarter gave the Lady Trojans their first lead of the night. The rally continued as Northeast took a one-point lead heading into the final eight minutes of play.
West Jones found itself down by four with fewer than five minutes to play. The Lady Mustangs hit 7-of-10 free throw shots to take a 47-44 lead with less than three minutes to play.
The Lady Trojans answered with important shots from Hopson, Jackson, and Keshia Sanders to go back on top by three.
The Lady Mustangs last chance to win the game came with under a minute to play, but West Jones didn't convert from the free throw line. The 52-49 win kept the Lady Trojans' division record at a perfect 3-0.
Northeast Lauderdale head coach Dan Stegall was impressed by his team's fight to come back and win the game.
West Jones was lead by Latoria Keyes' 21 and Sharon Pendarvis' 18.
The Lady Trojans (12-7, 3-0) were led by Dorecious Powe's 15, Quin Jackson's 14 and Crystal Hopson's 10. They will be in action Thursday night against Enterprise in the Sam Dale/ Walter Ethridge Memorial Tournament at Northeast Lauderdale. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
Northeast Lauderdale boys 80, West Jones 49: Jimmy Kelly scored 19, Clinton Hales netted 12, and De'Kenno Winston and Marcus Betts contributed 10 apiece to lead the Northeast Lauderdale Trojans to an 80-49 victory over West Jones on Tuesday night. The win gave the Trojans their first division win of the year.
Northeast coach Lewis Lightsey was proud of his team's effort.
Northeast took an early 20-12 lead in the first. They would extend that lead to 42-28 at the half. The Trojans never looked back or let down in the third and fourth quarters, as they outscored the Mustangs 23-9 in the fourth to take the win.
The Mustangs (6-17, 0-2) were lead by Johnny McDonald's 15 and Rico Keyes' 14.
The Trojans (11-6, 1-2) will be in action at the Sam Dale/ Walter Ethridge Memorial Tournament on Thursday against Enterprise in the late game at Northeast.