Rebelettes put Lady Mustangs to sleep

Published 12:15 am Wednesday, February 28, 2007

CLINTON — Pillow Academy played Leake Academy as close as anybody has all year in the MPSA Overall Tournament at Mississippi College Tuesday, but in the end the Rebelettes did the same thing they’ve done 40 other times this year.

They won.

Leake held off a late charge by the Class AAA Lady Mustangs to take a 51-46 victory and advance to the semifinals of the tournament.

The Rebelettes will play Mt. Salus Christian at 1 p.m. on Friday at Jackson Prep.

Leake was held to its fewest point total of the year but still managed to push its record to 41-0.

“They ran us out of the press for the first time this year and we had to back up and play tough half-court defense,” Leake coach Doyle Wolverton said of his Class AA state champs. “Fifty-one points is the least we’ve scored all year but we gave up about what we usually give up. I thought they played very hard. We had a 10-point lead and they hit a 3-pointer but we went ahead and finished it out.”

Pillow jumped out to an early lead, but Leake was up 17-13 by the end of the first quarter and 25-24 at halftime.

It was 36-32 going into the fourth, but a basket by Julie Wilbanks helped Leake to a 46-36 lead with 3:51 remaining.

Morgan Woods hit three free throws to cut the lead to 48-46 with 1 minute left for Pillow, but Hannah Lee fed Whitney Gross under the basket with 35 seconds left and Britni Harvey added a late free throw to secure the win.

Allison Phillips led Leake with 16 points, followed by Gross with 15. Lee and Wilbanks had eight each. Woods had 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead Pillow (35-7).

Gross had 10 rebounds and Phillips eight, while Lee had 12 rebounds and five assists.



Huntington, La. boys 78

Leake Academy 76

The Rebels fought their way out of several holes on Tuesday night but came up short as the Hounds pulled out their second MPSA Overall win in as many days.

Leake trailed by double digits twice in the first half and trailed by as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter but battled back to tie the game with 14 seconds remaining.

“We got down early,” said Leake coach Phil Shepard. “I knew that one of us would go on a run to start the third quarter and after we scored they went on a 9-0 run … We kept fighting back and they got into foul trouble.

“We felt like if we could force overtime we would win but they got that final putback attempt and we fouled him.”

Leake, the Class AA state runnerup, finished 27-12 while Huntington — the Class A state runnerup — ran its record to 34-4.

The Rebels turned the ball over 18 times in the first half and the Hounds took advantage. They led 16-8 early, then went up by 10 midway through the second quarter.

Leake heated up afterward, and a seesaw battle ensued that came to a close with Huntington leading 39-37 at halftime.

Lance Jones led the Rebels with 22 points, while Adam Byrd and Lee Powers scored 17 points apiece. Powers also had five assists. Byrd grabbed 12 rebounds, while Jones had nine.

Ricky Dunbar had 22 points and eight rebounds to lead five Huntington players in double figures.