When Meridian Community College and East Mississippi Community College met for the first time this season in November, the Lady Eagles slipped by with a 7-point win.

Thursday, they didn’t need additional time to make their statement.

Meridian Community College defeated East Mississippi Community College 70-51 Thursday evening to pick up their first win of the new calendar year.

“It feels good because we came back maybe three or four days before the game, and the first couple of days we did nothing but running,” Meridian coach Jocelyn McGilberry said. “I’m proud of them because a lot of them did what I asked them to do over the break as far as keeping themselves in shape and watching what they eat… That tells me that they’re ready and prepared for the next half of the season.”

DaKeiya Cooley (Laurel HS) scored a team-high 19 points, and LaChrisha Williams (Choctaw Central HS) scored 13 points to round out Meridian scorers in double figures. LaTonya Adams (Clarkdale HS) scored seven points, while Jordan Bell (Choctaw Central) ended with eight points.

Meridian (6-4) led 31-23 at the end of the first quarter and 50-36 at halftime.

Aamiya Rush (West Point HS) paced the Lady Lions with 12 points, and Maddie Riley (Velma Jackson HS) scored nine points. Emily Evans (Southaven HS) and Brianna Page (West Jones HS) tallied eight points apiece. 

East Mississippi (4-7) coach Sharon Thompson said her team this year hasn’t consistently played the same way it’s practiced, and it again haunted the Lady Lions in Thursday’s contest.

“We had some good practices since we’ve been back after the break,” Thompson said. “You can’t have game-day phobia, and to me, that’s what we’ve had going on all year. We’ve had some girls who show up in practice every day and are consistent, but when we get into games, they can’t show up. To me, we have game-day phobia.”

Up next: East Mississippi hosts East Central on Jan. 8, and Meridian travels to Southwest Mississippi on Jan. 10.

EMCC MEN 80, 

MERIDIAN CC 68

East Mississippi head coach Billy Begley moved to a career 8-0 against Meridian Community College, and the Lions upped their record against the Eagles to 20-2 since the 2007-08 season.

Dewayne Cox (Ripley HS) had 22 points and five rebounds; Robert Davis Jr. (Clinton HS) tallied 21 points; Terryonte Thomas (New Hope HS) pitched in with 14 points and seven rebounds; Darrious Agnew (Starkville HS) ended the contest with 10 points. 

“They played hard,” Begley said. “It wasn’t pretty, but they played hard. We’ve been practicing hard the last couple of days. The biggest thing is getting in shape. I knew our timing wouldn’t be there — it came as the game went on. I thought they played really hard for not playing in a month.”

Kylan Hamilton (Tupelo HS) finished with a team-high 15 points. Talvyn Dean (Senatobia HS) and Liban Abdi (St. Louis Park HS, Minn.) finished with nine points.

“That’s the best Meridian team we’ve ever played,” Begley said. “ Coach (James) Green has coached at the highest level. He’s always going to have those guys ready to play. That’s a tough team to play. They’re going to make some noise in this league.”