By By Rocky Higginbotham/The Meridian Star
June 23, 2001
DECATUR After not seeing any action in Thursday's first round of the 10th annual State Games of Mississippi high school basketball action, the Newton High girls were forced to play three games Friday.
Apparently, that was no problem for the Lady Tigers.
Newton's girls, under the direction of first-year head coach Crandel Porter, knocked off three larger schools here at East Central Community College's Brackeen-Wood gym.
The Lady Tigers downed Kossuth 42-29, beat Crystal Springs 49-38 and topped Cleveland 48-31 to take a 3-0 mark in girls' Pool 3 action. Newton's girls can wrap up a berth in Sunday's medal round with a win over Neshoba Central today at 1 p.m.
In fact, Porter's teams have combined to go a perfect 6-0 thus far in the State Games. The Tigers, who have already wrapped up a berth in the medal round, take on cross-county rival Newton County today at 4:45 p.m. in a non-pool game at NCHS.
Here's a rundown of Friday's action from ECCC:
Neshoba Central's girls, in a rematch of a Class 4A state semifinal last March, jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first half and whipped Crystal Springs 55-42.
Miranda Rosar pumped in a game-high 28 points in the win, 19 of them in the first half. Krystal Wells added 10 and India Backstrom eight for the Lady Rockets.
Ebonee Jenkins led Crystal Springs with 23 points.
Newton got 11 points from Creoshia Williams as the Lady Tigers downed Kossuth 42-29.
Lenore Gray chipped in seven points for Newton, which held a commanding 21-8 lead at halftime.
Jefferson County's boys jumped to a 29-18 lead in the first half and had no problem downing Lake, 58-32.
Newton's boys built a 14-point edge in the first half, then held off private-school power Jackson Prep 62-56.
Daniel McNair scored 11 points and Maurice Jones had 10 in a balanced attack for the Tigers, while Zack Logan and Ladarrian Blaylock both scored eight.
Newton's girls, who trailed 27-26 at halftime, rallied to knock off Crystal Springs 49-38.
The Lady Tigers got 12 points from Williams, while Jenkins also scored a dozen in the loss for Crystal Springs.
Neshoba Central's girls stayed alive in the hunt for a berth in the medal round with a 62-56 win over Cleveland.
The Lady Rockets, down by one at halftime, got 15 points from Wells in the win. Rosar and Willis added 13 points apiece and Backstrom chipped in nine.
Jefferson County's boys stretched a two-point halftime lead into a 52-43 win over Jackson Prep.
Newton's boys jumped out to a 25-12 lead in the first half of play and coasted to a 47-33 win over Lake.
Eleven different Tigers scored in the win for Porter.
Newton's girls capped a perfect day with a 48-31 win over Class 4A Cleveland.
Williams led NHS with 11, while Marquita McLaurin had nine and Twila Clayton eight.
Rocky Higginbotham is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at rhigginbotham@themeridianstar.com.