Newton High School's Autumn Taylor tries to get control after a battle for the ball against Southeast Lauderdale High School's Sedaysia Anthony Friday night at East Central Community College in Decatur.

DECATUR — Just seconds prior to the end of the game, Newton coach Marcus Luckett gave senior Rajah Hodges a very spirited talk about her help-side defense.

    Then he called a play for the senior and she missed badly. But that didn’t stop Hodges.

    The senior drained a long-range 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime as the Lady Tigers beat Southeast Lauderdale 57-56 in the semifinals of the East Central Community College Tournament.

    With the win, the Lady Tigers improve to 3-3 on the season and will face Choctaw Central in the finals today at 6 p.m. at ECCC’s Bracken-Woods Gymnasium.

    It was a big win for a young group of Lady Tigers to even their record at 3-3 after starting the season 0-3.

    “I had just called (Hodges) over a few minutes earlier and chewed her butt pretty good,” Luckett. “But then I called a play for her and she missed. Then I called another. That’s just the way it is. The ball seems to find her in moments like that. I know some people don’t like the way I coach, but they know I don’t hold it against them. Life is tough and games like this just make them tougher.”

    The game started slowly as Newton led 11-7 after the first period and 23-19 at the half.

    But as the fouls started to mount for both teams, the pace picked up as Southeast tied the game going into the final period at 34-34.

    Neither team led by more than three points in the final period but Southeast took a 48-46 lead with 13 seconds left to play on a rebound outback by Timara Trussell. But Newton tied the game with 6.9 seconds in regulation as Autumn Taylor drove the length of the floor and scored on a layup to send the game into overtime.

    “I told our kids after the game that I was proud of them and the way they played,” Southeast coach Cedrick Drake said. “We had some young kids grow up tonight and make some big shots for us. You hate to lose a game like that but I told our kids it was a learning experience.”

    The score went back and forth in the overtime period and Newton tied the game at 54-54 on a pair of free throws by Autumn Taylor with 1:18 left to play. The Lady Tigers had a chance to put the game away in the final minute but made only two of six free throws until Hodges’ 3-pointer at the buzzer.

    Taylor had a game-high 26 points for Newton while Hodges and Vivica Ardd each had 10 points. Tia Larkin led Southeast with 13 points while Tajae Davis and Timara Trussell each had 11 points.

CHOCTAW TOPS FOREST

Choctaw Central High School beat Forest High School 69-49 to advance to the East Central Community College tournament final.

    The Lady Warriors were led by Mercedes Jefferson, who poured in 16 points, while Melody Jimmie had 14 points.