By By Richard Dark/The Meridian Star
Jan. 17, 2001
DEKALB The rain outside of the gymnasium beside West Kemper Elementary School was nothing compared to the rain backup shooting guard Chris Davis was making in the second half of Kemper County's Tuesday night 67-62 win over Northeast Lauderdale.
Davis came off the bench and caused a three-point shooting downpour, hitting four in the pivotal second half to lead the Wildcats to their second win over the Trojans within the span of a week.
The Wildcats (16-8, 1-0 in Div. 5-4A) got balanced scoring as Davis' 14 paced the squad and James Moore added 11. The team recorded nine 3-pointers.
With NEL (13-8, 1-2) building a 48-43 lead off a give and go to De'Kinno Winston, the Wildcats seemed to be fading with the third period winding down.
But with 1:09 to go, Davis drilled the long-range bomb to bring the home fans to life.
After a technical foul on a Trojan player, Davis stepped to the line and sank both free throws to pull the home team to within 54-52 with 6:08 to go.
Less than 20 ticks later, Davis popped free off a screen and stuck another dagger in Northeast. This time, it gave KCHS the lead, and the Wildcats would only need one more Davis bomb which came at the 5:03 mark to take the lead for good.
Davis final trifecta came with two minutes to play to give Kemper a 64-60 lead and it held up in part at least, to poor shot selection by the Trojans ().
Lightsey might have been on to something, as the Trojans made their hosts work for it in the end. Jimmy Kelly's putback with 1:27 remaining pulled NEL to within 64-62.
A free throw gave KC a 65-62 lead at the 34.9 mark, but the Trojans were unable to hit any shots after that.
The Wildcats set the tone in the first, as Kendrick Gale scored all of his eight in that frame. Kendrick Benamon had 10 and Kenny Boyd added nine down low.
For Northeast, who travels to Mendenhall Friday night, Kelly scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half and Jamaal Martin nailed a trio of threes on the way to 13. Marcus Betts was a force on the glass and pumped in 10. Winston and Clinton Hales each recorded six.
The Wildcats host Velma Jackson Friday.
Richard Dark is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at rdark@themeridianstar.com.