Choctaw Central rolls hard into new year
By By Marty Stamper / EMG sports assistant
Jan. 3, 2003
FOREST With a tough stretch of games just days away, Choctaw Central Lady Warriors' head coach Walter Wilson didn't mind his team's 74-31 rout of Pearl Thursday night in the opening round of the Central Mississippi Classic one bit.
The Lady Warriors, ranked No. 3 in The Clarion-Ledger poll, improved to 15-0. Pearl dropped to 1-14.
Choctaw Central shook off a cold start to lead the Lady Pirates 19-6 after one quarter and rolled to a 46-8 halftime advantage.
The Lady Warriors will host Heidelberg on Jan. 10, Southeast on Jan. 14, and West on Jan. 17 before taking on Murrah at Terry on Jan. 18. Before the month is over, the Lady Warriors will play Philadelphia, Newton County, and West once again.
Choctaw Central led Pearl 63-18 by the end of the third quarter.
Chantay Frazier led the Lady Warriors as she had all 19 of her points in the first half. Trish Phillips tossed in nine, Kelly Willis, Charla Isaac, and Willa Thomas each had eight points with Ashley Flint, Casey Vaughn, and Kelly McMillian adding six apiece.
Pearl managed just eight points in the first half, getting four each from Brittany Williams and Aquila Smith. Smith finished with 10.
In other first-round games, the Forest girls defeated Carthage 51-37 and the Forest boys outgunned Carthage 92-84. Choctaw Central, 10-3, took on Pearl, 4-11, in the late boys' game.
In today's action, Newton's Lady Tigers, 9-7, take on Forest, 5-10, at 4 p.m. with the Newton boys playing Forest, 9-5, at 5:30. The Choctaw Central girls meet Morton at 7 with the Morton boys playing the Choctaw Central-Pearl winner at 8:30.
Forest girls 51
Carthage 37
The Lady Bearcats outscored Carthage 24-14 in the first half as they improved to 5-10.
Forest got 19 points from Mary Qualls, 13 from Pharen Nelson, and eight from Photasha Derrick.
Carthage, 1-13, got eight points apiece from Alisha Matlock, Amanda Schmidt, and Alexis Ricks.
Forest boys 92
Carthage 84
Forest outscored Carthage 53-41 in the second half to up its record to 9-5.
Carthage carried a 43-39 lead into halftime and went up 53-43 midway through the third quarter.
Forest closed the third period with a 19-7 run and then outscored the Tigers 10-2 to start the fourth quarter to claim a 72-62 lead.
Forest got 26 points from Braxton Boone, 10 of which came in the second quarter. Jacques Jones had 17, Michael Townsend added 13, and Ontario Holifield tossed in nine.
Carthage, 2-12, got 26 points from Eddie Perkins, 20 from Brian Nichols, 16 from Winfred Fletcher, and 15 from Dexter Leflore. Perkins had 19 of his 26 points in the first half.
