MERIDIAN — In the first round of the Division 5-4A tournament at Laurel, West Lauderdale got 24 points from KD Edmonds in downing rival Newton County 60-50 and advancing to Thursday's semifinal.

JD Williams added 12 for the Knights (17-9), and Vince Watkins scored 10 as West clinched its berth in the state playoffs.

West now plays Quitman at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

— Jamie Wachter



Northeast Lauderdale    38

West Lauderdale girls    36

Shaqunta McDonald scored 10 points to lead the Trojans past their rival Tuesday in the first round of Division 5-4A tournament at Laurel.

Northeast advances to play top-seeded Quitman at 4 p.m. on Thursday in the tournament semifinal round. The Trojans also clinched a berth in the state tournament.

West, which ended its season, was led by Keke Martin's 10 points.

— Jamie Wachter



JUNIOR COLLEGE SPORTS

Wet weather forcea reworking of EMCC baseball, softball schedules

SCOOBA — This week's continuing wet weather conditions throughout the state have caused East Mississippi Community College's baseball and softball teams to rework their schedules for the current week.

Because of the recent rain, the EMCC softball team's scheduled Tuesday home season opener against Copiah-Lincoln Community College has been postponed until March 21.

Coach Kyndall White's softball team, 2-0 on the year after sweeping Hinds last Friday in Raymond, will now look to this Friday afternoon to open their 2013 home softball slate with a scheduled 3 p.m. doubleheader against Pearl River Community College at the EMCC Softball Field.

Rain has also played havoc with EMCC's baseball schedule from the outset of the season. Most recently, Wednesday's scheduled doubleheader versus Jones County Junior College, originally slated to be played in Scooba and later relocated to JCJC's Community Bank Park, has now been moved to Thursday with a 2 p.m. doubleheader set to be played at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson.

Due to a wet month of January, the Lions were forced to play their first two baseball doubleheaders (Bishop State CC and Meridian CC) away from home because of the delay in the completion of the outfield fence reconfiguration project at EMCC's Gerald Poole Field. The Lions also had this past Sunday's scheduled road doubleheader against Bishop State in Mobile canceled due to rain.

Coach Chris Rose's EMCC Lions, 4-2 on the season after splitting a twin bill at Wallace Community College Selma this past Saturday, now look to open their home baseball slate on Tuesday, Feb. 19 with a 1 p.m. doubleheader versus Copiah-Lincoln Community College on the Scooba campus.

— from school reports



Meridian softball postpones

season opener

The Meridian Community College softball team will continue to play the waiting game to play its first home games of the 2013 season.

MCC was scheduled to play Jones County Junior College in a doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at Tommy McDonald Field, but heavy rain has caused the games to be postponed.

The doubleheader with the Bobcats was originally scheduled Monday, but forecasted rain caused the games to be postponed.

MCC (0-2) will return to action Thursday afternoon at Tommy McDonald Field for a 1 p.m. doubleheader with East Central Community College.

The Eagles are also preparing to host the annual Rush Invitational Tournament this weekend at Tommy McDonald Field.

— from school reports

MCC baseball postpones series for second time

Meridian Community College has once again encountered a delay in the start of its three-game series with Bossier Parish at Scaggs Field.

The series between the two clubs was scheduled to begin Wednesday, but heavy rain throughout the day Tuesday at Scaggs Field has caused the second schedule change in as many days.

The series has now been shortened to a doubleheader between the two clubs and is now scheduled to begin Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m.

— from school reports



LATE JUCO BASKETBALL

EMCC basketball teams sweep visiting Northeast Mississippi

SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College basketball teams swept visiting Northeast Mississippi Community College, 64-55 in the women’s game and 77-44 in the men’s contest, Monday evening at EMCC’s Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.

Playing to keep their hopes alive for a spot in the upcoming MACJC State Basketball Tournament later this month, the home-standing EMCC Lions recovered from a 12-0 Northeast run midway through the first half to take a 30-22 halftime lead. Takera Mitchell’s banked 3-pointer at the 5:30 mark of the opening half snapped an offensive dry spell that lasted nearly seven minutes for the Lions. Down 18-14 with 6:33 left in the first half, EMCC outscored the Tigers 16-4 heading into the half.

Coming off an 18-point effort at Mississippi Delta last Thursday, Mitchell set a new season high for the second straight game by finishing with 20 points against Northeast, including 9-of-12 shooting from the charity stripe.

Saddled with two early fouls to start the game, Kimmons connected on 6-of-7 shots from the field after halftime in addition to pulling down six rebounds after the break.

Winners of three of their last four games, head coach Sharon Thompson’s EMCC Lions improved to 6-14 overall and 4-5 in division play.

The EMCC Lions never trailed in the nightcap, as four 3-pointers in the opening nine minutes of play helped stake the home team to a 22-6 lead by the 8:32 mark of the first half. The margin widened to 27 points (42-15) by the halftime break.

Winners of their third straight game, head coach Mark White’s EMCC Lions improved to 14-6 overall and 7-2 in division play to tie Northwest Mississippi for first in the MACJC’s North Division standings.

Sophomore Jarekious Bradley put on another show for the EMCC Lions, hitting the 30-point mark for the fifth time on the season with 31 points against Northeast.

— from school reports



LATE JUCO TENNIS

MCC tennis falls to Marion Military

The Meridian Community College men's tennis team returned to action last Friday against Marion Military Institute.

In doubles action, MCC's Joshua Marx/Kevin Millet lost to Peter Solomon Romar Hernandez 8-0. At No. 2 doubles, Meridian's Ducky Troutman/Cody Gallenbeck lost in a long set to Shepherd Newcombe/Gabe Llewellyn 8-3.  Meridian's Harrison Warren/Reed Wade took the win at three doubles with an 8-4 win over Robert Tabanguil/Felix Eligio. In single's action Meridian took two matches at No. 5 and 6 singles when Harrison Warren defeated Robert Tabanguil 6-2, 6-1 and Mohammed Wahaidi at six defeated Felix Eligio 6-2, 6-0. Cody Gallenbeck had a tough match at three but played well. He lost in close sets to Gabe Llewellyn 6-4, 7-5. At No. 1 singles, Joshua Marx lost to Shepherd Newcombe 6-2, 6-0; Troutman lost to Peter Solomon 6-0, 6-2. At No. 3 singles Kevin Millet lost to Romar Hernandez 6-2, 6-0.

Meridian's men are now 1-2 on the season. Both teams will return to action next week when they travel to William Carey Feb. 19. MCC hosts Faulkner State at Northeast Tennis Center on Feb. 20. They then travel to Belhaven on Feb. 22.

— from school reports