MERIDIAN —     Behind two double-doubles and four players in double figures, the Southeast Lauderdale remained unbeaten in Division 5-3A play with a 69-39 rout of visiting Kemper County on Tuesday.

    Crystal Clay led the Tigers, who are 23-1, with 23 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocked shots, while Jasmine Bush added 14 points and 14 rebounds. Tay Ruffin finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Kamesha Pringle chipped in with 10 points.

    Robniecha Rush led Wildcats with 14 points.

    Southeast visits Philadelphia on Friday.

— Jamie Wachter



SE Lauderdale boys    45

Kemper County    39

    Demario Malone paced the host Tigers with 10 points as Southeast improved to 10-10 and 5-2 in Division 5-3A play. Anthony Ruffin led KC with 10.

    Southeast travels to Philadelphia on Friday.

— Jamie Wachter



NE Lauderdale boys    48

West Lauderdale    39

    Henry Anderson led the Trojans with 17 points Tuesday as Northeast improved to 15-9 and 3-5 in Division 5-4A. Maurice Clemons added 12 for Northeast.

    West was paced by JD Williams' 10.

    The Trojans head to Northeast Jones on Friday.

— Jamie Wachter



NE Lauderdale girls    44

West Lauderdale    40

    The Trojans improved to 4-4 in Division 5-4A behind Shaqunta McDonald's 11 points. West was led by Keke Martin's 13.

    Northeast visits Northeast Jones on Friday.

— Jamie Wachter



Oak Hill    63

Lamar girls    49

    Despite 25 points from Olivia Mabry, the Raiders fell to 22-5 on Tuesday. Natalie Williams added 10 for the Raiders.

    Oak Hill was led by Megan Ellis and Shay Atkins, who each scored 14.

    Lamar visits Leake Academy on Friday.

— Jamie Wachter



Mt. Salus girls    61

Newton County Aca.     30

    Anna Grace Govero and the Mt. Salus girls basketball team took down Newton County Academy on Tuesday.

    Govero scored a game-high 33 for the Eagles on the night. The Generals were led by Faith Hollingsworth, who scored eight points.

    NCA falls to 10-14 and will host Wayne Academy on Thursday at 5 p.m.

— Tony Tsoukalas



Newton County Aca.    58

Mt. Salus boys    40

    Tre Collins had a big night for Newton County Academy with 27 points and 17 rebounds on the night to go along with five blocks, while Tanner Smith also put up 16 points for NCA. Chance Collins had eight assists for the Generals.

    Newton County improves to 12-6 with the win and will host  Wayne Academy on Thursday.

— Tony Tsoukalas



Quitman girls    68

Newton County    28

    The Quitman girls basketball team won in dominating fashion Thursday night,.

    Ameonia House led the Panthers led the Panthers with 12 points. Quitman improves to 18-6 with the win and will travel to Laurel on Friday.

— Tony Tsoukalas



Quitman boys    54

Newton County    44

    The Panthers improved to 15-6 and 6-2 in Division 5-4A behind 14 points from DeQuan Stanley. The Cougars were led by Joe Wansley's 15 points and Brandon Davis' 10.

    Quitman visits Laurel on Friday.

—  Jamie Wachter



LATE JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Meridian women    69

Southwest Mississippi    55

    The Eagles bounced back from a disappointing overtime loss against Baton Rouge Community College on Saturday night with a solid performance Monday night as MCC never trailed at Graham Gymnasium.

    MCC opened the game on a 7-0 and never let up, leading by as many as 17 points on two different occasions behind 20 points from former Meridian High star Reyada Stinner, while Gelese Lampton finished the game with 15 points. Former Newton High star Ashtin McNichols chipped in with 14 points and Kristen Sampson added 10 points.

    MCC (14-8) will return to Miss-Lou Conference play Wednesday night with a road trip to New Orleans to battle Delgado Community College at 5:30 p.m.

— from school reports



SW Mississippi    72

Meridian men    52

    The two teams swapped the lead for much of the first half, but Southwest built a 35-27 lead at the end of the first half. MCC was able to cut the Southwest lead to

as little as six points on two different occasions in the second half, but the Bears would be too much to handle, and cruised to the victory.

    T.J. Jones led the Eagles in the scoring department with 16 points and Michael Hutchins added eight points in the loss.

    MCC (1-21) will return to action Wednesday night on the road against Delgado beginning at 7:30 p.m.

— from school reports



East Central    77

Jones Co. women    67

    Xzandra Dowd poured in 33 points and led the Warriors past JCJC on Monday night in the Brackeen-Wood Physical Education Building.

    Dowd, a 5-8 sophomore guard, also pulled down a team high 10 rebounds and helped East Central snap a four-game skid to improve to 5-12 overall and 2-4 in the MACJC South Division under first-year head coach Crandal Porter. Also scoring in double figures for EC were Jaianah Matthew with 18 and Jakela Johnson with 12.

    ECCC travels to Pearl River Community College on Monday at 5 p.m.

— from school reports



Jones County men    90

East Central    71

    In the men’s game, the Warriors fell to 1-16 and 1-5 under seventh-year head coach Maurice Bowie.

    Bobby Wrench, a 6-5 sophomore forward from Columbus led EC with 16 points. West Lauderdale product Chris Rhoney added 15.

    ECCC travels to Pearl River Community College on Monday at 7 p.m.

— from school reports



East Mississippi    56

Coahoma women    54

    The women’s contest was nip and tuck the entire 40 minutes with a seven-point Coahoma lead late in the game marking the game’s largest margin. After six deadlocks in the opening half of play, the visitors held a slim 28-24 lead at the intermission.

    Coming off her first collegiate double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds last Thursday at Northwest Mississippi, EMCC freshman guard Wilma Davis gave the Lions their first lead (33-32) since early in the game by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the second stanza. After the Tigers responded to regain the lead, the teams battled until the final seconds as Davis banked a shot in off the glass with 1.3 ticks remaining for the winning score.

    Led by Davis and Ashley Jackson with 16 and 10 points, respectively, head coach Sharon Thompson’s Lions improved to 4-13 overall and 2-4 in division play.  Jackson notched her season high in her first collegiate start, while Davis scored in double digits for the fourth consecutive game. EMCC hosts Holmes on Thursday.

— from school reports



Coahoma men    78

East Mississippi    70

    In the nightcap, the Lions were seemingly in control early sporting a 15-4 cushion seven minutes into the contest. They maintained the advantage throughout the opening 20 minutes of play but had to settle for a 30-27 halftime lead. The two teams exchanged leads six times before the Tigers tallied seven unanswered points to move ahead 52-46 with just over 13 minutes remaining. EMCC wouldn’t get any closer than four points the rest of the way.

    Falling to 11-6 overall and 4-2 in division play, head coach Mark White’s Lions dropped a second straight regular-season division game for the first time since the 2008-09 season. Prior to last Thursday’s 79-67 setback at Northwest Mississippi, EMCC had put together a composite division mark of 37-3 spanning back to the start of the 2009-10 campaign.

    Jarekious Bradley paced the Lions with 23 points, followed by Earnest Hunter’s 14 points. The Lions host Holmes on Thursday.

— from school reports



LOCAL GOLF

Payne hits hole-in-one at Northwood

    Playing with Jim Bates, Rhett Payne recently recorded an ace at Northwood Country Club. Payne used a pitching wedge on the 145-yard 17th hole.

— from special reports