By By Rocky Higginbotham/Special to The Star
Dec. 1, 2001
DEKALB With football season finally over for Noxubee County, the Tigers figured on finally fielding a full squad on the basketball court this week.
But with a late-season injury and a rash of pink eye, Noxubee ventured to Kemper County Friday night without head coach Willie Triplett and with just nine players, and the Tigers were no match for the homestanding Wildcats.
Kemper led by as many as 32 points Friday at home before settling for an 80-66 win over its rivals from Macon. The victory earned a split on the night, as Noxubee's ninth-ranked Tigerettes won 75-48.
Kemper County 80
Noxubee County 66
After a sluggish start, the Wildcats cranked it up in the second and third quarters to take control against the Tigers.
Kemper led just 14-13 early in the second quarter before reeling off eight straight points. Chris Davis scored six of those, and his 3-pointer with 4:53 on the clock put the Wildcats up 22-13 and forced Noxubee into a timeout.
It didn't help, as Kemper finished the first half on a 12-2 run, getting a three-point play from Gary Griffin and a tomahawk slam dunk from Kendrick Benneman to go up 37-19 at halftime.
The Wildcats, who are now 5-1, didn't have any jitters in the third quarter, as they put up 27 points thanks to two 3-pointers from Marques Mays and one each from Benneman and Kelvin Tanksley.
Kemper led by as many as 32 points in the quarter and was up 64-38 heading into the final period.
There, things got sloppy and Noxubee threatened to make a game of it, although the Tigers never got any closer than 12 points.
Davis finished with 17 points, all of them in the first half, while Griffin had 16 points and six rebounds for Kemper. Benneman had 11 points and five assists, Kenny Boyd scored nine points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Mays scored nine points and Terrance Westerfield dished out 10 assists. Davis and Benneman had six steals each.
Noxubee, playing without two starters, got a game-high 25 points from Omar Conner. Randy Cameron had 12 points and 11 rebounds and Kewon Singleton scored 10 points and had seven rebounds as the Tigers fell to 3-6.
Noxubee girls 75
Kemper County 48
The Tigerettes won their 12th straight game and improved to 12-1 on the season with an easy win over the host Lady Wildcats.
Noxubee led 19-5 after a 10-0 run midway through the first quarter, and the Tigerettes held their double-digit lead the rest of the way.
Shawnequa Rucker scored a game-high 20 points and had six assists for Noxubee, while Erlexis Cooper scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Chaffie Spann had 10 points and nine assists, Jessica Mason scored 10 points and had eight rebounds, Selethia Malone scored seven and Jennifer Porter scored six, grabbed seven boards and had three steals.
Kemper County got 13 points from Monique Mosley, who also had three steals. Tamician Davis scored 11 points to go with four assists and three steals, Candra McCoy has 12 rebounds to go with six points and three blocked shots and Laretha Love scored six points and had six rebounds. The Lady Wildcats are 1-5.
Noxubee County returns to action Dec. 7, when the Tigers and Tigerettes host Okolona. Kemper County's next action is Tuesday at home against West Lowndes, then at Newton on Dec. 7.