By By Richard Dark/The Meridian Star
Feb. 14, 2001
WAYNESBORO Following Wayne County's 58-23 triumph over the Brandon Lady Bulldogs in the opening night of the Division 5-5A Tournament, coach Gina Skelton seemed a bit subdued.
That's not to say Skelton wasn't happy with the position her No. 2 seed Lady War Eagles are in, it may just be a matter of what lies ahead in the immediate future Friday night here in the Thunderdome.
Skelton would not comment as to whether or not her team was adequately ready, only that they would enjoy the Lady War Eagles' first advancement to the South State playoffs in quite some time.
They did so in convincing fashion, holding the Lady Bulldogs to a single point combined in the second and fourth quarters.
And during that time, WCHS (22-6) put up a combined 27 to turn the latter stages of the game into garbage time. Carla Bartee keyed the Lady War Eagle attack with 22 points including 19 in the first half and 10 rebounds, while Arletha Bartee added 13 and 10.
It looked as if it would be a tough row to hoe for Wayne County as Brandon was only down 17-13 after one quarter. But the Lady Bulldogs only sank 1-of-10 free throws the entire contest and didn't get much beyond Lindsey Sutton's 12-point effort.
Raykesia Gray handed out four of the Lady War Eagles' 12 assists and Skelton's squad harassed Brandon with 14 steals. Sharkeshia Jordan added six points for WCHS, which faces Meridian in the championship Friday night.
Meridian 90, Northwest Rankin 46: The third meeting between these two teams was no different from the first two, as the top-seeded Lady Cats stormed out to a big lead and cruised to the Friday night championship game against Wayne County.
Every member of Donald Shirley's squad, which improved to 27-4, got into the scorebook by notching points.
Shirley did say that he thought his squad did appear a bit lackadaisical in the second half, but he attributed it to the history of lopsided wins between the two.
The contest was a far cry from Friday night's 63-62 squeaker victory at Provine.
Cantea Brown led the way for the Lady Wildcats with an 18-point effort. Cassandra Harris added 14 and Kanecia Williams pumped in 16 underneath, including eight in the runaway 20-5 second frame.
Other scorers for the Lady Cats included Stephanie Mosley and Chelse Alford, who each had seven. Erica Cross and Latisha Jones both had a half dozen.
The Lady Cougars, which ended their season at 5-20 were led in the scoring column by Laura Godfrey's 12 points.
Richard Dark is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at rdark@themeridianstar.com.