By Rocky Higginbotham

sports editor

Leake Academy’s squads will head to Winston Academy in Louisville Friday for the MPSA District 2-AA Tournament.

The tourney actually begins today, but both Leake squads received byes as the top seeds in the five-school event.

The top-ranked Rebelettes, 33-0, will take on either fourth-seeded Winston or fifth-seeded Canton Academy Friday at 6:30 p.m. in semifinal action.

Manchester and Tri-County Academy are on the other side of the bracket, with consolation and championship games set for 4 p.m. and 6:30 Saturday.

On the boys’ side, Leake — ranked No. 4 among MPSA Class AA schools by the Jackson Clarion-Ledger — got a bye and will take on either TCA or Manchester Friday at 5:15 p.m. The Rebels are 23-6 after Monday’s loss to Class AAA power Jackson Prep.

Canton and Winston are the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds on the boys’ side, with consolation and championship games set for 5:15 and 7:45 p.m. Saturday.



MPSA 4-A TOURNAMENT

Alpha Christian boys 81

Newton Co. Academy 44



The Generals saw their season come to an end with a loss to top-seeded Alpha in the 4-A tourney at Heidelberg Academy.

NCA, the No. 8 seed, saw its season end with a 7-13 record despite 21 points from Landon Burt and 10 from Brody Thomas.

The Generals were down 42-24 at halftime.

Alpha, 22-3, got 24 points from Mark Hogan.

Newton had opened the tourney with a 70-56 win over ninth-seeded Sylva-Bay on Monday — outscoring the Saints 31-21 in the second half to pull away.



Other scores …



Russell Christian Academy’s season came to end with a 41-36 loss to Christian Collegiate in Monday’s first-round action in the 4-A tourney. The Warriors led 30-28 going into the fourth quarter.

Heidelberg’s host boys fell 69-50 to Ben’s Ford. The No. 3 seeded Rebels saw their season come to an end despite 14 points each from Derek Beach and Joseph Collins.

Wayne’s boys also fell 58-50 to Lamar Christian.

Newton County Academy’s second-seeded girls moved into Friday’s semifinals with a 71-14 thrashing of Laurel Christian. The Lady Generals got 13 points each from Abby McMillian and Hannah Parker and led 38-6 at halftime.

Meanwhile, RCA’s girls were eliminated by Lamar Christian Monday night, while host Heidelberg Academy edged Sylva-Bay 33-24 to move into Friday’s semifinal against top-seeded Alpha.

There are no area boys’ teams remaining in the tourney, but three of the four teams left in the girls’ bracket are from The Meridian Star’s coverage area.

While Heidelberg will take on top-seeded Alpha, NCA’s ladies will battle Wayne Academy in Friday’s first game at 3 p.m.

Coach Dale Bowen’s Lady Jaguars., the No. 3 seed, hammered Christian Collegiate 43-18 earlier this week.



MPSA 3-A TOURNAMENT

Kemper Academy boys 75

Immanuel Christian 55



The Rams from DeKalb outscored Immanuel’s Rams 29-12 in the fourth quarter to nail down a win in the 3-A tourney being held at Calhoun Academy.

Kemper, the No. 1 seed, will play tonight at 7:45 p.m. against Tupelo Christian Prep in semifinal action. No. 8 seed Immanuel had beaten ninth-seeded Calvary Christian School Monday.

In KA’s win over Immanuel, Tim Hardy pumped in a game-high 31 points, while Drew Watson scored 23.

Immanuel’s Jared Cooper scored 31 in the loss.



Kemper Academy girls 53

Central Academy 42



The second-seeded Lady Rams overcame a slow start to knock off their arch-rivals from Macon.

Central, the No. 7 seed, led 8-2 after one quarter and was still up 17-16 at halftime. But KA outscored the Lady Vikings 19-10 in the third quarter to take the lead for good.

Kendall Taylor scored 18 points, Lillian Brooke Lindsey had seven while Alex Dawkins and Corey Dawkins scored six apiece for Central — which finished its season with a 4-16 record.

Kemper got 13 points from Taylor McKee and 11 from Courtney Owen. The Lady Rams will face third-seeded Calhoun — a 36-31 winner over Winona Christian School — in a 4 p.m. semifinal this afternoon.