Clarkdale's D. J. Emerson passes the ball off as he leaps above Choctaw Central defenders Friday night.

    Sometimes it’s as simple as making shots.

    After a nip-and-tuck, back-and-forth first half Friday, Choctaw Central pulled away in the second half at Clarkdale for a 73-56 win when the host Bulldogs struggled to find the net.

    “The first half shots were falling and in the second half, they weren’t,” Clarkdale coach Robert Holladay said. “But I feel like we played a good game and against a good team. It’s like I told the guys, ‘It was one of those nights where shots fell for them and not for us.'”

    In the first half that wasn’t a problem as the Bulldogs played evenly with the Warriors until the final 10 seconds. Clarkdale even built a 31-24 lead with 4:31 left in the second quarter when D.J. Emerson found Gabe Shelby underneath. Shelby, a 6-foot-2 junior scored 14 of his 19 points in the first half as he controlled play in the lane. The Bulldogs, who made 12 of their first 18 shots in grabbing that seven-point lead, made 13 of 28 before the break compared to just 8 of 22 in the second half.

    However, Choctaw (10-11, 4-0 in Division 5-3A) started to find its rhythm in the final four minutes before the break, tying the game for the sixth time at 31 on a Garrick Stoliby 3-pointer with 2:41 remaining in the half. The Warriors would take the lead on a Brian Lasarge basket two minutes later, the seventh and final lead change of the game, before Clarkdale tied it for the final time when Jordan Hodgins scored off a putback. Hodgins led the Bulldogs with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

    Choctaw had the answer, though, as Zack Billie scored off an offensive rebound and was fould with six seconds remaining in the period, and when he missed the free throw, Stoliby scored off a rebound three seconds later to push the Warriors’ lead to 37-33 at the break.

    The Bulldogs, who fell to 8-9 and 1-2 in the division, wouldn’t get any closer than that in the second half as a pair of Hodgins free throws made it 42-38 with 5:35 left in the third before Choctaw went on a 15-4 run over the next five minutes.

    “It was really an even game except for a four or five minute stretch where we pulled away there,” Choctaw coach Scott Thomas said. “I thought they played well. We just shot the ball very well.”

    The Warriors continued to pull away from that 57-42 lead, getting the gap as high as 70-49 when Kameron Hickman hit a 3-pointer with little more than two minutes left in the game.

    “Even in the second half, we were getting the shots we wanted,” Holladay added. “We just weren’t able to execute them like we did the first half.”

    Choctaw’s balanced attack was led Stoliby and Keith Riggen, each scoring 21 points. Stoliby hit three 3s, all coming in the first half, while Riggen connected on five from beyond the arc and also had eight rebounds and six assists. Billie finished with 10 as nine Warriors scored. Djon John grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds as Choctaw also won the battle of the glass 40-26, including a 25-11 edge after the break.

    “We’ve always stressed team ball,” Thomas said. “It’s hard for people to key on just one guy and that’s helped us.”

Choctaw Central    95

Clarkdale girls    49

    Coming into Friday night’s game against Class 3A No. 3 Choctaw Central, Clarkdale’s two goals were to limit turnovers and control the boards.

    The Bulldogs were unable to accomplish either and fell 95-49 to the Warriors, also ranked No. 7 overall in the state according to the Clarion-Ledger. Choctaw improved to 17-2 and 4-0 in the division heading into Tuesday’s showdown against Class 3A No. 4 Southeast Lauderdale.

    “Coming in the two big things that we had to do to have a chance at a win were to hold the turnovers down and we had to beat them on the boards, pretty good,” Clarkdale coach Jeff Davis said. “We didn’t do either one. They beat us on the boards and we turned it over 30-plus times.”

    Choctaw, which thrives off its pressure defense, forced the Bulldogs into 44 turnovers, 36 coming in the first three quarters when the Warriors built an 83-33 advantage. Those miscues started early for Clarkdale, as they turned it over on four straight possessions following a Crystal Clay basket just 21 seconds into the game that gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead. A Clay bucket at the six minute mark of the first quarter gave the Bulldogs their last lead at 4-3.

    “They have a very good team and we got undisciplined,” Davis added as Clarkdale fell to 13-4 and 0-3 in the division. “And that’s the big thing about Choctaw Central and so many of the girls teams out there is their degree of discipline and their conditioning. We got a little undisciplined and the girls got a little tired.

    “After that, we got down, got frustrated and it snowballed from there.”

    After the Bulldogs hung close for five minutes, Choctaw began to pull away late in the first quarter as it closed the period on a 12-4 run to lead 21-12. Kristen Dixon and Chenice Ben led the Warrior charge as Dixon scored six and Ben had nine on three 3s.

    “We picked our defense up a little bit,” Choctaw coach Willis Tullos added. “Everything we do, our defense sets up everything we do. Our offense comes from our defense. If we don’t play good defense, we don’t play good offense.

    “This was a good win to get. We couldn’t afford to look past Clarkdale because they have a good ballclub. But they have a hard time matching up with the running game and that made a big difference. Southeast (Lauderdale) won’t have that (problem.) Southeast is good.”

    That pressure didn’t let up and neither did Ben. The senior guard connected on seven 3-pointers and scored a game-high 26, while also collecting four of the Warriors’ 28 steals. Dixon added 10 points, 12 boards and a team-high five steals.

    “Chenice picked it up and shot the ball a little better,” Tullos said. “We have four people that average around 14 points a game, so one of them is going to make some shots at some point in a game.

    “We didn’t shoot it very well, overall. And I know that sounds strange in a game where we scored 95 points, but we missed a lot of shots we normally make. So we had to have a lot of shots.”

    Deshayna Hickman finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for Choctaw, which had 11 players score.

    Meanwhile, Clarkdale was led by Clay’s 20 points and 16 rebounds — 10 and 10 coming before the break.