By By Marty Stamper/staff writer
Jan. 3, 2002
FOREST It's not every day you see Choctaw Central's Lady Warriors grab a 20-point lead and then sweat the final minutes of a basketball game, but it happened Wednesday in the opening round of the Central Mississippi Classic.
The Lady Warriors, fresh off two wins in a tournament at Cherokee, N.C., last weekend, led 51-31 early in the third quarter of Wednesday's feature game before Newton came storming back.
The Lady Tigers used a tenacious press to battle back to within one at 69-68 with 1:56 remaining. Choctaw Central closed the game with a 13-3 run to improve to 15-1 with the 82-71 win.
Newton went on a 9-0 run to trim a 69-59 deficit with just under six minutes remaining to 69-68 with 1:56 left. Tonya Jordan, a 5-foot-10 senior forward, scored all nine points during the Lady Tiger comeback.
Chantay Frazier stopped the run with a basket with 1:25 left and Deandrea Johnson made it a five-point game when she connected following a steal by Trish Phillips.
A basket by Johnson with 47.5 seconds left effectively sealed the win.
The Lady Warriors made 10 3-point baskets in the contest to offset Newton's obvious height advantage.
The Lady Warriors placed five players in double figures. Shavon Willis hit five 3s in tallying 18 points. Phillips and Johnson both scored 15 points, Frazier had 13, and Ashley Flint added 11. Willamae Thomas scored nine.
Newton, 11-3, got 23 points from Lenora Gray, 20 from Tonya Jordan, 17 from Kotreece Bender, and five from Creoshia Williams.
Choctaw Central led 27-13 after one quarter and carried a 48-31 advantage into halftime.
In today's girls' losers' bracket games, Newton faces Meridian, 12-6, at 7 p.m. with Union, 5-9, taking on Pearl, 4-12, at 4 p.m.
Scott Central 66
Union 45
Scott Central closed the first half with an 8-0 run to take a 34-24 advantage into halftime of the tournament opener. The Lady Rebels then scored the first seven points of the third quarter to go up 41-24.
Scott, 13-5, got 19 points apiece from Britney Burks and Kattie Nickson. Nickson had 11 points in the first half with Burks scoring all of hers in the final three periods.
The Lady Rebels also got 12 points from Elyse Clay and 10 from Marquita Anderson.
Union, 5-9, got 18 points from LaSaundra Harrison. Thirteen of her 18 came in the first half. The Lady Jackets also got seven points from Madison Brantley, six from Marley Smith, and five from Lauren White.
Forest 56
Pearl 24
The Lady Bearcats got three 3-point baskets each from Latasha McClendon and Pharen Nelson in beating Pearl.
Forest led 15-9 after one quarter and went into halftime with a 23-14 advantage. A 14-4 dominance of the third period extended Forest's lead to 37-18. Sheena Evans led Forest, 9-6, with 14 points. McClendon scored 11 and Nelson had 10.
Pearl, 4-12, got eight points from Amy Watts and seven from Juypa Padilla.