MERIDIAN —     SCOOBA — Sophomores D.J. Evans and Colin Borchert combined for 49 points to help lead the Lions of East Mississippi Community College to their 10th consecutive win with Monday's 81-71 home triumph against Coahoma at Keyes T. Currie Coliseum.

    Coach Mark White's EMCC Lions battled back from an 11-point, first-half deficit with a 9-1 run to close the opening half trailing by just three points (36-33). A 3-pointer by Evans at the 16:49 mark of the second stanza gave the Lions their first lead (43-41) since midway through the opening half.

    After the Tigers reclaimed a short-lived lead, 48-47 at the 13:21 mark, on a three-point play by Rashard Harris, EMCC's tandem of Evans and Borchert began to take over the contest for the Lions. Combining for 16-of-17 free-throw shooting between them after intermission, Evans tallied 17 of his game-high 26 points in the second half while Borchert had 14 of his 23 points following the break.

    Coahoma kept the contest interesting until the final buzzer, trailing by just five points (75-70) with two minutes remaining. Four straight Evans free throws down the stretch gave the EMCC men their 12th double-digit victory in 13 wins on the season.

    Borchert added a game-high 14 rebounds and three blocked shots to his 5-of-11 field-goal shooting and 13-of-15 accuracy from the charity stripe. Evans also collected five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Fellow sophomore Curtis Hall chipped in with 10 points, six boards and three steals, as the Lions improved to 13-2 overall and closed out the first half of MACJC North Division regular-season play unbeaten at 6-0.

    Falling to 7-10 overall and 0-6 in division play, the Coahoma Tigers were led by Harris' 21 points.

— from school reports



Coahoma women    61

East Mississippi    51

    In Monday's opener, the host Lions trailed the entire contest. After getting down 6-0 early, the home team was doubled (32-16) by the halftime break. To their credit, coach Sharon Thompson's EMCC women fought all the way back to cut the deficit to just two points (44-42) by the 8:38 mark of the second half on a pair of Alvida Clemons free throws.

    Coahoma answered with a spinning move in the lane by ShyVuna Johnson and a three-point play by Sharhonda Vaughn to push the Tigers' lead back up to seven points (49-42) with 7:27 left in the game. The Lions could not get any closer than five points the rest of the way to fall to 5-11 overall and 2-4 within the division.

    Clemons paced EMCC with 16 points, including a pair of second-half 3 pointers. Fellow sophomore guard Chadisty Hickman followed with 10 points, though the former Kemper County High School product struggled with 4-of-18 shooting from the field, including but 1-of-9 from beyond the arc.

    Claiming their first division win in six attempts on the year and evening their overall mark to 8-8, the Tigers received 16 points apiece from Vaughn and Ciara Morgan.

— from school reports



LATE JUCO BASKETBALL

Co-Lin women    61

East Central    58

    WESSON — The Warriors jumped out to an early 24-14 lead on Thursday, but the Wolves rallied and took advantage of EC miscues to claim an MACJC South Division win.

    EC's advantage was cut to one at halftime (26-25) and the Wolves grabbed their first lead at 43-40 with 12:21 left. After Co-Lin extended their advantage to 49-42, the Warriors rallied to take their final lead of the night at 56-55 with 2:16

remaining. The game was tied at 58 with 46:1 seconds remaining but turnovers

proved costly for EC in the game's final moments.

    Ja'Monica Orton pumped in 16 points to lead the Warriors, who fell to 2-12 overall and 2-3 in league play. Orton, a sophomore guard, also grabbed nine rebounds. Kelcia Bufkin added 11, while Jaiannah Matthew finished with 10.

    Keosha Bradley had 15 points for Co-Lin, which improved to 12-3 and

5-0.

— from school reports    

Co-Lin men    90

East Central    59

    WESSON — The Warriors were blasted Thursday's nightcap, dropping to 1-13 overall and 1-4 in MACJC South Division play.

    Newton County product Hakeem Wesley led ECCC with 17 points, while Meridian's Jontrae Conley added 11.

    Jay Case and Mike Buffalo had 16 points each to lead the Wolves, who improved to 6-9 and 1-4.

    Co-Lin led 40-24 at the break.

— from school reports



LATE PREP BASKETBALL

Leake Aca. girls    69

Canton Aca.    32

    The Rebelettes outscored visiting Canton 34-8 in the first quarter last Tuesday and breezed, leading 51-17 at halftime.

    Katie Webb scored 16 to lead Leake (26-2), which had nine players score. Ashley Quick pumped in 12, Hannah Peoples added nine, and Mary Grace Key and Khristen Evans finished with eight each.

— Jamie Wachter



Leake Aca. girls    70

Manchester Aca.    36

    Shelly Dowell led four Rebelettes in double figures as Leake ouscored visiting Manchester 32-7 in the first quarter Friday. Leake pushed the halftime lead to 57-17.

    Katie Webb added 12 points for Leake, which improved to 27-2, while Anna Nowell had 11 and Mary Grace Key finished with 10.

    Kristen Morris scored 11 to pace Manchester.

— Jamie Wachter