By Staff
JUMPER Monique Truman looks for help against Southeast's Ree Newell, left and Shalonda Mitchell. Photo by Phoyo by Paula Merritt/The Meridian Star
By Robby Atkinson/Special to The Star
Nov. 18, 2001
It was nothing but a good night for West Lauderdale as both the girls and boys teams claimed the 2001 Lauderdale County Tournament titles. The Lady Knights scored a victory over Clarkdale by a final score of 70-34, while the boys cruised to an 86-26 win in route to the pair of titles. In other action from the tournament the Southeast Lauderdale girls got their second win of the tournament by knocking off Northeast Lauderdale by a final of 51-44. The boys from Southeast didn't fair as well, as Northeast Lauderdale beat the Tigers by a final of 91-62.
West Lauderdale 70
Clarkdale 34
The Lady Knights used an early 6-0 scoring run behind Kristina Gardner to take the win over the Lady Bulldogs. The run was finally silenced on a basket from Tamara Brown to cut the West Lauderdale lead to 6-2. After a basket by West Lauderdale Brown answered with a basket and a free throw to cut the lead to 8-5 with 3:17 remaining in the first quarter of action.
West Lauderdale quickly increased their lead behind eight points from J.J. Huggins to give the Lady Knights a 16-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Clarkdale started the second period on a quick shot from Brown and make the score 16-9. The Lady Knights went on a tear off the very hot shooting of Patty Monroe. Monroe ripped off 17 points in the second quarter and give West Lauderdale a comfortable 41-17 lead at the halftime break.
The Lady Knights didn't let up as they led 55-25 at the end of the third quarter behind the great play Huggins. West Lauderdale didn't need anymore offense as the Lady Knights took the 70-34 victory and the tournament championship. Monroe finished the night for West Lauderdale with 20 points and Huggins followed with 15 in the win. Gardner also added eight points for West Lauderdale. Danielle Gaddis led the Lady Bulldogs with 13 and Brown concluded her night with nine points for Clarkdale.
West Lauderdale 86
Clarkdale 26
The Knights used a second quarter scoring run to take the win over the Bulldogs. West Lauderdale led the Bulldogs 14-6 at the end of the quarter, but the Knights went on a very impressive scoring run to give them an enormous lead. West Lauderdale went on a 22-0 scoring paced by a pair of slam dunks by Calvin Moore to give West Lauderdale a lot of momentum.
Rocky Kirksey ended the glorious run by West Lauderdale with a basket to try and keep Clarkdale in the game. West Lauderdale led at halftime by a score of 47-14. The Bulldogs from Clarkdale deserve all the credit in the world by not giving up, but the Knights were victorious by a final of 86-26. Moore led the Knights with 18 points and Boo Ramsey chipped in with 14 points in the win for West Lauderdale. Bryant Gaddis had eight points for Clarkdale and Kirksey had six in the tough loss for Clarkdale.
Southeast 51
Northeast 44
The Lady Tigers used some last second free throws to take the win over Northeast Lauderdale. Southeast led 10-8 at the end of the first period as both teams a some trouble getting on track on the offensive side of the ball. The Lady Tigers got things clicking in the second quarter of play behind a pair of baskets by Ree Newell to give Southeast a 14-10 lead with 5:32 left in the second quarter.
Northeast tied the game on two buckets by Quin Jackson to make the score 14-14 with 3:37 remaining in the second. Southeast answered right back with a basket and free throw from Leslie Ruffin to bring the Southeast lead to 18-14 lead with 3:08 left in the first half. Southeast went on a small 6-0 run at the end of the half on a couple of baskets from Sam Smith and make the score 25-16 at the end of the second quarter.
Northeast came out of the locker room ready as Shaquita Bell hit a shot and make the score 25-18 with 7:14 until the end of the third. Southeast still had the advantage at the end of the quarter by a score of 36-26. Southeast used the free throw line towards the end of the contest to secure the big win over the Lady Trojans. Kenitta Cooley lead the Southeast Lauderdale offense with 18 points to pace the Lady Tigers their second win of the tournament.
Northeast 91
Southeast 62
The Trojans were on fire from three point land and of course that helped in the long run as Northeast recorded the 91-62 win over the Tigers. The hot shooting started on a pair of three point shots by Jaamal Martin and Dekenno Winston to give Northeast an 11-5 lead early in the contest. From that point on Northeast only saw shots fall as the Trojans took the decision over Southeast Lauderdale.
Martin led the scoring for Northeast with 25 huge points and Winston came in with 15 points for Northeast Lauderdale. Windham Campbell led the Tigers with 23 points and Nehemiah Nwankpah followed with 14 points in the loss for Southeast Lauderdale.