Provine girls beat Columbus, advance to play MHS Monday

By Staff
From staff, wire reports
Feb. 28, 2001
Tosha and Leslie Christmas combined to score 29 points to lead Jackson Provine to a 54-45 win over Columbus Tuesday in the MHSAA Class 5A girls state tournament.
Provine (27-7) played tough defense, used a balance attack and made free throws at the right time to advance to the semifinals. Columbus (24-12) had only one player in double figures.
Michele Poindexter had 10 for Columbus.
Keisha Carter scored 11 points and Tonya Thomas added 10 for the Lady Rams, who will advance to face Meridian (31-4) on Monday.
Leslie Christmas led Provine with 15 points and Tosha Christmas had 14.
Class 5A Boys: Chey Christie scored 31 points, including 15 in the third quarter, to lead Biloxi to a 77-72 win Tuesday night over Jackson Murrah in a Class 5A Boys MHSAA state tournament game.
Christie outscored Murrah (25-10) in the third quarter by six points and Biloxi (26-10) survived several late runs. Murrah got within two points four times but big shots by Christie helped Biloxi maintain the lead.
Maurice Williams led Murrah with 27 points. Maurice Daniel had 20 for the Mustangs, the defending 5A runnerup.
Biloxi will play Jackson Jim Hill in the semifinals on Monday.
Class 3A Boys: Anton Walton scored 26 points as Nettleton defeated Hazlehurst 63-49 Tuesday to advance to the semifinals of the MHSAA Class 3A boys state tournament.
In the second game of the day, West Bolivar eliminated Prentiss 75-64.
O'Brian Lowe added 14 points for Nettleton (33-4) and Jarvis Acker had 12.
Mario Gray scored 22 points to pace Hazlehurst (18-20). He was the only Indians player to score in double digits.
Nettleton will play Tylertown Saturday at the Jackson Coliseum for a spot in the 3A finals to be played Friday, March 9.
Cedric Armstrong had 23 points in West Bolivar's victory. Frederick Johnson scored 13, Terrell McCoy 12 and Tony Epps had 11, including three 3-pointers.
Al Jefferson led Prentiss with 19 points and Gerald Keys had 14 points and three 3-pointers.
West Bolivar (26-10) plays Simmons on Monday in the semifinals.
Class 3A Girls: In the late game, Hazlehurst defeated two-time defending champion Yazoo County.
LaToya Johnson scored 22 points and Maketa Coleman had 20 for Hazlehurst. Victoria Richardson added 10 points for the Lady Indians (23-12).
Yazoo County had appeared in three straight Class 3A title games.
Michelle Shaffer led the Panthers (22-6) with 11 points.
Hazlehurst will play South Pontotoc Monday in the semifinals.