Knights overcome slow start
By By Marty Stamper/The Meridian Star
Dec. 15, 2001
If the West Lauderdale Knights ever figure out how to start a basketball game, they're going to be pretty tough.
In Friday's Division 5-3A contest with Philadelphia at Collinsville, the Knights quickly fell behind 8-0 and spent the first three quarters playing catchup.
Aided by a hot first two minutes of the fourth quarter and a 10-of-13 showing at the free-throw line over the final 3:15, the Knights took a 61-58 win to improve to 11-3 overall and go to 3-0 in 5-3A along with Heidelberg.
Philadelphia dropped to 8-3 and 2-1.
The Tornadoes led 19-12 after one quarter, saw West close to within 21-20, then carried a 28-25 lead over the hosts into halftime.
Philadelphia led 42-37 after three quarters, but the Knights opened the final period with a flourish, scoring nine straight points to go up 46-42.
A basket by Tellas Burnside with 5:37 left tied the contest at 46-46, but the Knights went up 51-46 when Boo Ramsey drilled a 3-pointer with 3:57 left, then stole the ball and laid it in 10 seconds later.
Ramsey led the free-throw charge down the stretch, making all six of his attempts over the final 3:15.
West fell behind 9-0 at Northeast Lauderdale Tuesday night before eventually losing 98-95 in triple overtime.
Clark was pleased to see his team repeatedly knock down clutch free throws.
Ramsey led the Knights with 22 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter comeback. Calvin Moore had eight of his 19 in the final period. Karlos Lewis added nine points, while Andre Adams scored seven.
Philadelphia got 17 points from Diego Gill, 15 from Burnside, and eight from Mandrako Jackson.
Girls
West 73
Philadelphia 47
The Lady Knights took control of their game early, going on a 14-0 run to turn a 5-5 tie into a 19-5 lead.
West led 25-10 after one quarter and carried a 45-23 advantage into halftime.
The Lady Knights got 14 points from JaWanda Huggins, 13 from Patty Monroe, 10 from Amy Frazier, nine each from 6-foot-2 sophomore Shannon Lloyd, J.J. Huggins, and Cierra Jennings, and seven from Kristina Gardner.
West improved to 11-3 overall and 2-1 in 5-3A.
Philadelphia got 14 points from Shekara Young and 12 apiece from Erica Clemons and Dominetrix Hunter.
The Lady Tornadoes fell to 6-8 overall and 1-2 in the division.
Marty Stamper is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at mstamper@themeridianstar.com.