By By Richard Dark/The Meridian Star
Feb. 7, 2001
WAYNESBORO If the old basketball adage of living by the three and dying by the three is true, then the Wayne County War Eagles were living high on the hog at home Tuesday night.
The War Eagles came out hot, firing early and often on the way to 11 3-pointers and a 63-46 spanking of the Meridian High Wildcats.
The win marked the third victory over Meridian this season and propels the War Eagles (23-2, 6-0 in Division 5-5A) to the top seed in next week's division tournament which Wayne will host.
Quentin Mayfield was the flame for the War Eagles, torching the Cat defense for 22 points with five treys compliments of a quick release after popping free off screens.
That may be bad news for the rest of the division and the fact that by his own admission, Mayfield had been struggling from the outside may have been the fact that the Wildcat defense was slow to get to him early on.
MHS head coach Ernie Watson acknowledged the big keys for the loss.
The Cats chose unwisely in the first half, as they quickly saw a 14-10 deficit turn into a 36-21 halftime rut. The hosts added a bucket to that lead after four, as the Cats could get no closer than 10 in the final two frames.
Dietric Slater added 13 for WCHS, while teammate Kacey Wilson added 10.
Quadrick Griffin led the Cats (22-7, 4-2) with 17. War Eagle John Gray nailed three trifectas for his nine points.
Meridian travels to Provine Friday, while Wayne County makes the trek to the coast to take on Gulfport.
Richard Dark is a sports writer for the Meridian Star. Email him at rdark@themeridianstar.com.