By By Marty Stamper / EMG sports assistant
June 27, 2004
Terrence Simmons knocked down a jumper just inside the free-throw line with three seconds left to give Durant a 56-54 win over Choctaw Central in one State Games boys' basketball semifinal Saturday night at Newton High School.
Durant won Pool III at Newton County High School with Choctaw Central winning Pool IV at Newton.
Durant led 27-18 late in the first half before the Warriors drew even at 33-33 at intermission when Daven Willis canned a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left.
Choctaw Central led 52-49 before the Tigers pulled even on a trey with 3:33 left in the game.
Jeremy Williams led Durant with 17 points. Clyde Moore scored 14 and Simmons had 11.
Choctaw Central got 15 points from Brandon Anderson, 12 from Sean Ahshapanek, 11 from Jaric Anderson, and seven from Don Ahshapanek.
Durant 80
Bay Springs 61
Durant won the Pool III tiebreaker with four players scoring in double figures. Terrence Simmons had 19, Brandon Cherry 15, Jeremy Williams 14, and Clyde Moore 10, with Jarod Bankhead and Johnny Boyd both tossing in eight.
Reggie Shellwood had 18 for Bay Springs.
Choctaw Central 69
Newton 46
Choctaw Central rolled to the 23-point win in the Pool IV tiebreaker game.
Jerrod McMillan's 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer sent the Warriors into the break with a 30-22 advantage. The Warriors scored 20 of the first 24 points of the second half to go up 50-26.
McMillan led the Warriors with 14 points. Choctaw Central also got 12 points from Jaric Anderson, 11 each from Sean Ahshapanek and Daven Willis, and eight from Don Ahshapenek.
Jemario Walker led 14 Newton scorers with 10 points.
Bay Springs 61
Durant 55
Reggie Shellwood scored 17 points and Lebaron Jones had 14 to lead Bay Springs in the day's first meeting between the two.
Terrence Simmons led Durant with 13 points.
Newton County 49
South Pike 27
Craig Pruitt scored 16 points, Jose Alcantar had 14, and Duke Hudnall had nine as Newton County routed South Pike by 22 points.
Newton 59
Choctaw Central 57
In their first meeting of the day, Newton took the slim win behind 14 points from Brandon Shelton, 12 from Steve Edwards, and eight from Courtney Ruffin.
Choctaw Central got 23 points from Sean
Ahshapanek, 11 from Jaric Anderson, and 10 from Eric Hickman.
South Pike 60
Newton 57
South Pike got 18 points from Kendrick Herring, 13 from Reginald Magee, and 11 from Jonathan Bryant in edging Newton.
Newton got 17 points from Jemario Walker, 16 from Courtney Ruffin, and eight from Kolby Tillman.
Durant 79
Choctaw Central 57
No individual scoring was available for the cross-pool contest. Most of the usual Choctaw Central Warriors saw limited action if any.
Newton County 2
North Forrest 0
Newton County got a forfeit win over the no-show North Forrest squad.
Lake 2
North Forrest 0
Lake also got a win by forfeit as North Forrest was a no-show.