By By Austin Bishop/The Meridian Star
Dec. 15, 2001
PHILADELPHIA The Lady Rockets of Neshoba Central High School struggled through most of the night on Friday, but managed to score the last 11 points of the game to take a 54-37 win over St. Andrew's.
The Lady Rockets won't play again until Dec. 27 when the travel to Birmingham to play three games over the holidays.
The Neshoba Central boys also struggled in their game, but led by as many as 27 points on the way to a 66-41 win over an outmatched St. Andrews team.
In the girls game, the Lady Rockets led 7-6 after the first quarter and 23-18 at the half.
On a couple of occasion in the second half, it looked like Neshoba was about to build up a big lead, only to let the Lay Saints slip back into the game.
When Krystal Wells, who led both teams with a 21-point effort, scored a basket to open the fourth quarter it put the Lady Rockets up 37-27. But the Lady Saints chipped away and used a three-pointer by Candice Eley, who scored 10 of her 12 points in the fourth quarter, to cut it to 43-37 with 1:55 left to play in the game.
Neshoba Central then began to hold the ball out, forcing the Lady Saints to foul. The Lady Rockets hit five-of-six free throws to make it 48-47, before adding some buckets late in the game to take the handy win.
Lena Tucker scored 11 points for the 12-4 Lady Rockets, while Miranda Roper hit for 10 and India Backstrum added nine.
Anna Marsh scored 11 points for St. Andrew's, including a trio of three-pointers.
Neshoba Boys 66
St. Andrew's 41
Tawon Walker and Desmond Jones scored 18 points each to lead the Rockets to the win in the night cap.
The scoring resembled a baseball game early on, with Neshoba Central holding a 2-0 lead four minutes into the game. The Rockets finally stretched it to 6-0 on back-to-back baskets by Jones, before St. Andrews cut it to 6-4.
The Saints got the ball with 13 seconds left in the first quarter and a chance to tie the game or even take the lead on a three-pointer, but turned it over. The Rockets then moved the ball down the floor to score on a bucket by Jones at the buzzer to make it 8-4.
After a three-pointer by St. Andrew's William Drinkwater to cut it to one, the Rockets ran off 17 unanswered points to build a 22-7 lead and effectively take the lead.
Neshoba, now 10-4 on the year, led the 4-10 Saints 28-13 at the half and 46-22 after three quarters of play. The Rockets substituted liberally throughout the second half.