After a nip-and-tuck first half that ended with the West Lowndes High School boys’ basketball with a two-point lead, the Panthers went on a
second-half tear en route to a 71-48 victory against Stringer in the second round of the Mississippi High School Activities
Association (MHSAA) Class 1A South State
tournament.
McAdams will play West Lowndes at 7 p.m. Thursday.
West Lowndes (17-8) built a 6-1 lead thanks to 3-pointers by Daylin Rogers and Darrel Brooks, but the Red Devils (19-9) countered with two treys from Keyshawn Dease to take a 7-6 lead at the four-minute mark of the opening period.
West Lowndes couldn’t buy a basket the remainder of the first quarter and missed 4 of 6 free throws, as Stringer took a 14-8 lead entering the second quarter.
The Red Devils’ six-point advantage quickly disappeared, however, when the Panthers scored seven unanswered points to take a 17-16 lead midway through the second period.
Stringer regained the lead at 19-17 on a Carson Stringer 3-pointer. An old-fashioned three-point play by Omarion Bridges gave the visitors a four-point advantage with 2 minutes, 20 seconds left before halftime.
Bridges’ basket and free throw were the last points Stringer scored in the first half, as Quay Sanders bagged two field goals to tie the game at 22. Dekylan Malone converted a steal into the tie-breaking points with 24 seconds left to give the Panthers a 24-22 advantage.
Following some halftime adjustments by coach Nick Christy, along with a continued stellar defensive effort, West Lowndes outscored Stringer 19-10 in the third period good for a 43-32 lead at the close of the quarter.
“If you look at our stats, we’ve been a pretty good third-quarter team,” West Lowndes coach Nick Christy said. “We just had to regain our offensive focus, continue to play good defense and make those free throws and that’s what we did the second half.”
Although West Lowndes outscored Stringer 26-16 in the fourth period, only 12 points came via the field goal route. Sanders hit 10-straight free throws in a two-and-a-half minute stretch to help seal the deal.
“Quay was not feeling well before the game, so we tried to get him in and out of the game as much as possible,” Christy said. “With free-throw shooting like that, he needs to get a touch of whatever he had tonight when we play McAdams.”
Stringer was 3-for-13 from the free-throw line in the final eight minutes.
Sanders claimed game-high scoring honors with 20 points, followed by Malone with 16. Twenty-six of those points came in the second half after they scored only 10 in the first two quarters. Jermaine Williams had all 14 of his points in the explosive second half.
The highlight of the game came on a thunderous slam dunk by Rogers, who had seven points, one less than teammate Jalen Brewer.
Omarion Bridges (16 points) and Dease (15) led Stringer.
“Dease was their top scorer averaging over 20 points a game, so we started Sanders on him, then switched Williams on him, and he did a good job,” Christy said.
n Greenville 45, Columbus 40: At Greenville, the Lady Falcons’ season ended in the second round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 6A North State tournament.
Hannah White had 16 points and Deryona White had 15.
n In other action, Amiyah Verner had 28 points Monday to lead the Hamilton High girls basketball team to a 77-47 victory against McAdams in the third round of the Class 1A South State tournament.
Baseball
n Oak Hill Academy 9, Heritage Academy 6: At Columbus, the Raiders scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning and then added three more in the eighth to beat the Patriots.
Oak Hill Academy capitalized on 13 walks in the victory. Jonah Caskey, Robert Thompson, and Dale Buchanan had hits for the Raiders. Nate Lamkin had four walks and Ethan Bryan had three.
Dalton Magers, Parker Thompson, and Caskey pitched for the Raiders.
KJ Smith and Blayze Berry had doubles for Heritage Academy. Banks Hyde had a triple and Seth Harris had a home run. Hyde had two RBIs, while Smith was 4-for-4. The Patriots capitalized on 12 walks.
Berry started and didn’t allow a hit in five innings. He walked three and struck out 10. The Patriots allowed three unearned runs in the eighth. The team committed three errors.
N Starkville 12, East Webster 3: Thomas Tucker went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs to help the Yellow Jackets earn their first win of the season.
KJ Lawrence had three RBIs and Ethan Pulliam had two for Starkville.
Riley Dawkins allowed two hits in four innings for Starkville, which surrendered three unearned runs. Dawkins walked two and struck out 10.
Softball
n Pickens Academy 12-14, Tuscaloosa Academy 0-8: The Lady Pirates opened the season with a mercy rule victory and another win to sweep the doubleheader Monday.
In Game 1, Shelby Lowe was 2-for-3 with two triples and two RBIs. Jessi Latham was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Carleigh Cameron was 2-for-3 and an RBI with two runs scored.
Lowe didn’t allow a hit in four innings. She walked none and struck out nine.
In Game 2, Caroline Lewis was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs. MacKenzie McCool was 2-for-5 with a double and four RBIs. Lily Lowery was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Courtney Dudley pitched seven innings and allowed nine hits and five earned runs. She walked two and struck out eight.
Pickens Academy will play Tuesday at Southern Academy.
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