from staff reports

The Southeast Lauderdale girls basketball team raced out to a double-digit halftime lead Thursday night and held off visiting West Lauderdale 63-51.

The Tigers led 20-13 after the first quarter and upped the lead to 35-20 at the half. West, though, rallied within 47-38 through three quarters.

Rachel Adams led Southeast with 20 points, while Aja Larkin added 16 and Alexis Ruffin finished with eight points and 11 rebounds. West was led by Julie Jones' 17 and Kandice Sims' 11.

Southeast returns to action Nov. 30 against Lake in the East Central Classic, while West opens the EC Classic against Forest on Nov. 30.

— Jamie Wachter



Southeast Lauderdale 51

West Lauderdable boys 48

The Tigers grabbed a slim halftime lead Tuesday and gradually pulled away from the visiting Knights.

Southeast broke a 10-10 first quarter tie by outscoring West 11-10 in the second period. The Tigers (1-1) upped that lead to 30-28 through the third behind 21 points from Ed Ruffin.

Southeast faces Newton County in the first round of the East Central Classic on Nov. 30, and West opens against Philadelphia on Nov. 30.

— Jamie Wachter



Wayne County 72

Laurel girls 33

The host War Eagles jumped on Laurel early Thursday and controlled play throughout.

Wayne County led 41-22 at the half and led 51-29 through three quarters, as four War Eagles scored in double figures.

Kierra Frost led Wayne County with 16 points, while Takera Mitchell and Tierra Frost each added 11 and RicDesia Wilson scored 10.

The 5-0 War Eagles play Magee on Monday.

— Jamie Wachter



PREP SOCCER

Northeast Lauderdale 5

Northeast Jones boys 0

Northeast Lauderdale upped its record to (2-1) on the season as it shut out Northeast Jones on Thursday night.

The Trojans got a huge game from Nick Divelbliss as he recorded a hat trick and an assist in the winning effort. Matt Kiefer also added two goals for Northeast Lauderdale. Jordan Martin contributed with two assists.

The Trojans will be back in action in Saturday's Lauderdale County Tournament at Northeast Park.

— Daniel Rigdon



JUCO BASKETBALL

Meridian women 81

Alabama Southern 57

Matika Sterling came off the bench to record her career high of 11 points, all in the second half as the Eagles were able to stretch their halftime lead of 37-22 at home Thursday.

LaDarica Campbell was the scoring leader for MCC with 13 points, while Sharda’e Johnson added 11 points. LaQuita Burrough pulled down 11 rebounds for MCC.

Jarra Arnold led Alabama Southern with a game-high of 16 points.

The Eagles return to action on Saturday against Coahoma at Graham Gymnasium.

— Jamie Wachter



Alabama Southern 88

Meridian men 62

Freshman Ma’Quirus Burton scored 13 points for MCC, while Deionte Dean added 12 points as the Eagles fell behind 58-29 at the half Thursday.

Rico Sanders of Alabama Southern led all scorers with 24 points.

MCC host Coahoma on Saturday.

— Jamie Wachter



Northeast Mississippi 75

East Central women 74

Trailing by one with six seconds remaining on the road Thursday, the Warriors' inbounds pass was knocked away and East Central turned it over with one second left.

East Central, which led 41-40 at the half, got 15 points from Philadelphia product Danielle Cole and 14 from Yolanda Jones.

Northeast was paced by Chelsey Whitaker's game-high 22.

East Central hosts Co-Lin on Dec. 3.

— Jamie Wachter



Northeast Mississippi 79

East Central men 71

The Tigers shot 70 percent in the first half to grab a 42-37 lead at intermission. Emmanuel Ezejiofo led Northeast with 15 points, while the Tigers finished the game shooting 62 percent.

Newton's Steve Edwards led the Warriors with a game-high 20 points. Also in double figures for East Central were Kendall Jackson (16), Titus Mims (11), Kenneth Thomas (10) and Aquill Baynard (10).

East Central returns to action Dec. 3 at home against Co-Lin.

— Jamie Wachter