By By Jim Luke/Special to The Star
Oct. 28, 2001
PHILADELPHIA High School girls basketball action started with a bang Saturday night as 13th-ranked Choctaw Central opened the season with a 72-48 win over Vicksburg, while 10th-ranked Meridian fell to 7th-ranked Hancock by a score of 64-50 in the 5th Annual Choctaw Classic.
The win for the Lady Warriors of Choctaw Central was the first win as a girls coach for Walter Wilson after 27 years as the boys' coach. "It was a big decision for me to take the girls' coaching position," Wilson said. "Coach Willis Tullos influenced me in the decision and I'm glad he did."
In other action in the classic, Southeast Lauderdale used a strong second half to put away Coahoma County 67-45.
The Lady Warriors started slowly in their 24-point win, trailing 14-5 early in the game before fighting back to make the score 17-13 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter belonged to Choctaw Central with a 27-11 point advantage to take a 40-28 halftime lead. Choctaw Central led 60-34 at the end of the third quarter.
Chantay Frazier and Deaundrea Jones provided much of the offensive fire for the Lady Warriors with 14 and 13 points respectively while Trisha Phillips added 11. Shalonda Williams led the Missy Gators of Vicksburg with 11 points.
The Lady Wildcats of Meridian had a tough time in the early going and, though trying valiantly, could never quite catch up to Hancock. Meridian trailed 16-9 at the end of the first quarter and 32-23 at the half.
Hancock built to a lead of 53-34 at the end of the third quarter and withstood a quick round of scoring by the Lady Wildcats at the beginning of the fourth quarter before securing the 14-point victory.
Valencia Hairston led the Lady Wildcats with 17 points and Stephanie Mosley added 14. Hancock was sparked by 26 points from Brooke Necaise and 11 from Devin Necaise.
The Lady Tigers of Southeast Lauderdale led 11-10 at the end of the first quarter and 31-26 at the half, before turning on the offense and picking up the defense for a 48-30 lead at the end of the third quarter en route to the 22-point margin of victory.
Ruffin was joined in double digits by Kenitta Cooley with 12 points in the contest. Coahoma County was led by Shameka Hopper with 11 points.
The Lady War Eagles of Wayne County demonstrated why they are ranked 6th in the polls as they rolled to a 72-55 victory over 9th-ranked Noxubee County. Wayne County led throughout the contest behind a 23-point night by Carla Bartee and Natalie Jordans 17 points. For Noxubee County, Shawnequa Rucker had 18 points with Erlexis Cooper adding 12.
In other action Louisville used a 28-point performance by Dee Forrest to upend Velma Jackson 72-48. Kim Mullins added 16 points and Brittany Triplett 10 for the Lady Wildcats, now 2-0 on the young season. Sunyetta Bowie added 12 for the Lady Falcons.
The Lady Panthers of Yazoo County defeated Kosciusko 53-30 and Williams-Sullivan took the win over Forest 52-45.