By Staff
DRIVING IN Newton County Academy's David White (10) pushes past Wayne County Academy's Cory Cochran (33) during the MPSA District 3A tournament in Macon Friday. PHOTO BY CARISA MCCAIN/THE MERIDIAN STAR
Marty Stamper/staff writer
Feb. 9, 2002
MACON It's rivalry night tonight in the finals of the Academy 3-A Tournament hosted by Central Academy.
In the girls' championship game, the host Lady Vikings of Central take on top-seeded Kemper Academy.
In the boys' finals, top-seeded Heidelberg Academy meets No. 2 seed Wayne Academy.
Consolation games begin at 4 p.m. with the Heidelberg girls playing Wayne and the Newton County Academy boys facing Sylva-Bay Academy.
In Friday's girls' semifinals, Central beat Wayne 45-29 and Kemper whipped Heidelberg 51-30.
In the boys' semifinals, Wayne drilled Newton 55-38 and Heidelberg handled Sylva-Bay 53-38.
Central girls 45
Wayne 29
Central split two regular season games with Wayne, but the Lady Vikings breezed to the 16-point semifinal win behind 15 points from Meagan Stokes and 13 from Carrie Coker.
Central, 16-17, led 11-3 after one quarter and carried a 23-11 lead into halftime. Coker and Stokes both had nine points in the first half.
The Lady Vikings led 31-19 at the end of the third period.
Central also got six points apiece from Leslie Hancock and Penny Smith. Stokes had 15 rebounds and two blocks, while Hancock had four assists and four steals. Coker had five steals.
Wayne, 12-10, got nine points from Erin Stanley, eight from Kristian Davidson, and six from Palmer.
Wayne boys 55
Newton County 38
The Jaguars and Generals split a pair of close games during the regular season, but Wayne outscored NCA 34-20 in the second half to take Friday's semifinal victory.
Wayne led 15-9 after one quarter, only to have NCA pull to within 21-18 by halftime. A 17-11 third quarter advantage sent the Jaguars into the final period holding a 38-29 lead.
Wayne, 10-7, was led by Barrett Tynes' 17 points, nine of which came in the third quarter. Steven Wood and Cory Cochran both scored 11 points, with Garet James tossing in seven and Alex Brewer adding six.
NCA, 12-14, got 11 points from Wil Bean, nine from Bud Loper, and eight each from David White and Chris Bounds.
Heidelberg boys 53
Sylva-Bay 38
The Rebels outscored Sylva-Bay 13-2 in the first quarter in advancing to the championship game. Heidelberg led 21-15 at halftime and held a 44-22 advantage through three periods.
Lloyd Windham and Dan Edwards both had 13 points for Heidelberg. Dusty Bass scored nine, Blake Bass added eight, and J.B. Harris tossed in six.
Sylva-Bay, 5-16, got 13 points from Tate Huff and 10 from Tyson Brown.
Kemper girls 51
Heidelberg 30
The top-seeded Lady Rams outscored Heidelberg 25-11 in the first half in advancing to the finals. Kemper led 15-4 after one period and outscored the Lady Rebels 10-7 in the second period.
A week away from basketball helped Kemper regain its focus, Lady Rams coach Russell Cruise said.
Leslie Beach led Kemper, 23-7, in scoring with 12 points. Megan Whitaker scored 10 points and had 14 rebounds, eight steals, and two assists. Jessica Harpole had eight points, six rebounds, and three steals, and Eve Darnell had five points. Nicole Sanders had four points, six rebounds, and two blocks off the bench. Blair Johnson had nine rebounds.
Heidelberg, 11-15, got 17 points from Ashlie McInnis, six from Katie Barnett, and five from Suzanne Lightsey.