By By Cassie Chance/Special to the Star
Feb. 16, 2001
Forget the regular season. Forget the big win before Christmas. It's tournament time and every game is a must-win situation. One loss sends a team packing for the year, while a win grants another day to play.
The Northeast Lauderdale Lady Trojans finished the regular season with a 5-1 division record. That entitled Northeast the top seed and a first round bye in the Division 5-4A tournament at Mendenhall. The Lady Trojans faced Laurel on Thursday night, which defeated Northeast Jones 55-37 on Wednesday.
After taking a slim six-point lead into the break, Northeast scored 30 points in the second half to put Laurel away 50-36.
Northeast jumped out to an early 6-2 lead only to see Laurel answer and take a 9-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
The Lady Trojans picked up the pace in the second quarter by going on an 8-2 run to take a 16-11 lead with just 2:51 left on the clock. The Lady Tornadoes couldn't get a rally going as Northeast took a 20-14 halftime lead.
The Lady Trojans continued to add to their lead in the third quarter by outscoring Laurel by seven to jump out in front with one quarter of play remaining.
The Lady Tornadoes didn't threaten Northeast's lead in the fourth quarter, as Northeast outscored Laurel 13-9 en route to the 50-36 win.
Tenishia Cooke led the Lady Tornadoes (11-17) with 11 points.
Northeast (22-10) got 19 points from Dorecious Powe, and Quin Jackson netted 14. The Lady Trojans will play the winner of the West Jones and South Jones matchup for the division championship tonight a 6 p.m.
South Jones boys 50, Quitman 49: The Panthers came out of the gate strong, taking a 13-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. South Jones picked it up in the second though, outscoring Quitman 15-10 in the period to take a 24-23 halftime lead.
The Braves picked up where they had left off in the third quarter as they extended their lead to five with one quarter of play remaining.
Quitman rallied in the fourth, but ran out of time as South Jones walked away with the one-point win.
David Laphand led the Panthers, 15-13, with 20 points. Jason Pearson added 13.
South Jones was led by Rashaun Walters with 22 points. Lafayette Nelson added 12.