By Staff
CHARGING AHEAD n Meridian's Marcelle Mosley charges past Brandon's Jay Ward, 11. Meridian "B" won the game 65-60 over Brandon. Photo by Carisa McCain/The Meridian Star
By Rocky Higginbotham/The Meridian Star
June 24, 2001
Big-school powers like Warren Central and Noxubee County have been a thorn in the side of the medal hopes of the West Lauderdale girls' basketball teams in recent State Games of Mississippi competitions.
So when the Lady Knights knocked off Warren Central Thursday in their first game of this year's Games, head coach Jody Hurst felt much better about his team's chances of reaching the medal round.
Apparently, for good reason.
West's girls completed their sweep of girls' Pool 1 Saturday with a 56-35 win over Laurel, and the Lady Knights' 4-0 mark has them in the semifinals this morning.
Those semifinals have a decidedly local and Lauderdale County flavor for the 10th annual State Games, as half of the boys' and girls' teams remaining are from here, while three of the other four are from The Meridian Star's coverage area.
To get to the gold medal game, however, West Lauderdale's girls will have to beat the defending champs on their home floor. Meridian High's Lady Wildcats take on West Lauderdale in one girls' semifinal at 9 a.m. at MHS, while Lake and Newton tangle in the other semifinal matchup at the same time at Meridian Community College.
The boys' semifinals, each set for 10:15 a.m., have Meridian and Northeast Lauderdale battling at MHS while Newton and Raymond meet at MCC.
MCC's Ivy Sports Center is also the host for today's gold medal games, with the girls' championship scheduled for 1:30 and the boys' finals to follow at 3 p.m.
Here's a brief look at how each team fared in its respective pool:
Pool 1: West's girls swept through with a perfect 4-0 mark, while Warren Central finished 3-1. Southeast Lauderdale went 2-2, Laurel was 1-3 and Walnut was 0-4.
On the boys' side, Meridian High was a perfect 4-0, while Wayne County went 3-1 and Noxubee County 2-2. Laurel was 1-3 and Coffeeville went 0-4.
Pool 2: On the girls' side, Meridian finished 4-0, while Northeast Lauderdale went 3-1. Clarkdale and Quitman each went 2-2, while Yazoo County finished 1-3 and Indianola Academy 0-4.
Northeast won the boys' Pool 2 title with a perfect 4-0 mark, while West Lauderdale was second at 3-1. Meridian's B-team finished 2-2, Brandon was 1-3 and Walnut was 0-4.
Pool 3: Newton's girls finished a perfect 4-0 in a solid pool that saw Kossuth go 3-1 and Neshoba Central wind up 2-2. Cleveland was 1-3 in this pool, while Crystal Springs went 0-4.
On the boys' side, Newton went 3-1 but won its pool because its only loss was a non-pool contest against cross-county rival Newton County. Jefferson County, which lost to Newton, went 3-1 while Lake and Jackson Prep both went 1-3.
Pool 4: Lake's girls went a perfect 4-0 to claim this pool title, while Pillow Academy was 3-1. Scott Central went 2-2, Jefferson County was 1-3 and Newton County was 0-4.
Raymond's boys were unbeaten at 4-0 to claim their pool title, while Newton County was 3-1, Pillow Academy 2-2, Jackson Academy 1-3 and Scott Central 0-4.
Rocky Higginbotham is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at rhigginbotham@themeridianstar.com.