BENTON — The Immanuel Christian girls basketball team clinched its first berth in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class A State Tournament on Monday by beating Hebron Christian 51-49 in the consolation game of the Class A North Central Tournament.
Immanuel, which earned the No. 3 seed from the North Central Tournament, will play Delta Academy at 6:30 p.m. today at Delta Academy in Marks.
Immanuel (19-13) trailed 9-8 after the first quarter and 28-18 at halftime before outscoring Hebron Christian 18-15 in the third quarter and 14-6 in the fourth.
It was Immanuel”s first victory against Hebron Christian since the 2004-05 season.
Nyki Baudoin led Immanuel with 17 points, nine rebounds, and two assists, Taylor Baudoin had 12 points, 24 rebounds, five assists, and seven steals, Meghan Cooper had 10 points and four rebounds, and Bailey Edwards with eight points.
Hebron Christian”s leading scorers were Cathryn Moore with 18 points and Laura Beth Moore with 17.
n Sharkey Issaquena 62, Immanuel Christian 52 (B): At Benton, the Immanuel Rams had their season come to an end Monday with a loss to Sharkey Issaquena in the consolation game of the MAIS Class A North Central Tournament.
Immanuel was in contention for three quarters before being outscored 27-20 in the fourth quarter. The score was tied 22-22 at halftime and the Rams only trailed 35-33 at the end of the third period.
Immanuel (18-15) was led by Justin James with 19 points, Wade Lee with 12 and Ross Moore with 10.
James and Lee were chosen to the all-tournament team.
n Pickens Academy 50, Crenshaw Christian 43 (G): At Montgomery, Ala., the Pickens Academy Lady Pirates advanced to the Final Four of the Alabama Independent Schools Association Class AA State Tournament on Monday by beating Crenshaw Christian.
Pickens Academy (26-3), which won its 11th game in a row, will play East Memorial Christian, of Prattville, Ala., at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Huntingdon College.
Pickens Academy overcame poor foul shooting to claim the victory. The Lady Pirates were 6 of 17 at the charity stripe, including 1 of 10 in the fourth quarter.
Pickens Academy coach Wade Goodman credited the victory to the team”s press defense.
The Lady Pirates led 18-10 at the end of the first quarter, 26-21 at halftime and 40-30 after the third period en route to the victory.
Pickens Academy was led by Elisabeth Hankins with 19 points and eight rebounds, Catherine Johnson with 15 points and Callie Minor with 10.
n Edgewood Academy 60, Pickens Academy 54, OT (B): At Montgomery, Ala., the Pickens Academy Pirates rallied in the fourth quarter to force overtime before losing to Edgewood Academy on Monday to be eliminated from the AISA Class AA State Tournament.
Pickens Academy outscored Edgewood Academy 15-9 in the fourth period before being outscored 14-8 in the extra period.
The leading scorers for Pickens Academy (17-11) were Jacob Acker with 27 points, and Grey Hankins with Michael Potts with 11 points each.
n Northwest Rankin 78, Starkville 74 (G): At Brandon, Taylor Beverly poured in a game-high 29 points to lead Northwest Rankin past the Starkville Lady Yellow Jackets on Monday in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A North Half State Tournament.
“We fought hard to the end down the stretch, but we made costly turnovers and they scored on the turnovers,” said Starkville coach Kristie Williams, whose team finished 16-9. “Our seniors played hard. I feel bad for them that they got the short end of the stick. But they left it all on the floor, and that”s all I can ask.”
Starkville trailed 54-45 at the end of the third quarter, but rallied in the fourth by outscoring Northwest Rankin 29-24.
The leading scorers for Starkville were Kala Williams with 21 points, Shay Bonner with 15 and Johniece Moore with 14.
Williams also praised the play of Rebecca Myles and Courtney Moore.
n Yazoo City 48 West Point 34 (G): At Yazoo City, the Lady Green Wave was outscored 16-3 in the second quarter in a season-ending loss in the MHSAA Class 5A North State Tournament.
Kourtney Crowley led West Point with 11 points, and Kelsei Ewings and Wilma Davis each had nine points.
Zahara Williams scored a game-high 16 points for Yazoo City.
n New Albany 67, Noxubee County 40 (G): At New Albany, the Tigerettes fell behind 17-4 in the first quarter and trailed 40-10 at halftime in a season-ending loss in the MHSAA Class 4A North State Tournament.
Jasmine Little had eight points and Brianna Brooks added six for Noxubee County.
n Broad Street 54, West Lowndes 46 (G): At Shelby, Marquita Gray had 21 points Monday night, but the Lady Panthers lost in the MHSAA Class 2A North Half State Tournament.
Tyesha Knott had 14 points and Corey Nevills added 10 for the Lady Panthers (7-13).
They played well,” West Lowndes coach Vermitra White said. “They held their leading scorer to only eight points, and she usually gets a double-double (double figures in multiple categories). They played good, solid defense and played hard. We turned the ball over in the first half and missed a couple of crucial blockouts in the second half.”
n East Oktibbeha 71, Nanih Waiya 49 (B): At Weir, Geonte Richardson led three players in double figures to help the East Oktibbeha Titans beat Nanih Waiya in the MHSAA Class A, Region 5 Tournament.
Also scoring in double figures for East Oktibbeha were Douglas Chandler with 13 points and Casey Neal with 11.
East Oktibbeha led 11-7 at the end of the first quarter, 32-19 at halftime and 51-28 at the end of the third period en route to the victory.
n Weir 58, East Oktibbeha 51 (G): At Weir, the host team rallied in the final quarter to beat the East Oktibbeha Lady Titans in the MHSAA Class A, Region 5 Tournament.
Weir trailed 45-44 before outscoring East Oktibbeha 14-6 in the fourth period.
Vonkesha Miller scored a game-high 22 points for Weir.
East Oktibbeha was led by Kelcie Lanier with 14 points and Lydia Stevenson with 12.
Track and Field
Heritage Academy”s Taylor shines at Junior Olympic meet
BATON ROUGE, La. — Heritage Academy freshman Zach Taylor won the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.24 seconds Saturday at the 2010 USATF Zone Junior Olympic Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Taylor also placed fourth in the 200 with a time of 24.59.
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