Area prep hoops back in

By By Marty Stamper/staff writer
Jan. 2, 2002
Area basketball teams won't waste any time getting back to the court as no fewer than five tournaments will have area teams participating in this week's events.
Action begins today in one of the area's oldest tournaments the Central Mississippi Classic at Forest.
Play begins at noon with the Scott Central Lady Rebels, 12-5, taking on Union, 5-8. At 1:15, the Union boys, 7-7, face Scott Central, 3-8. Meridian, 12-5, squares off with defending Class 1A state champion Lake at 2:30. The Newton boys, 7-6, play Pearl at 3:45. The 5 p.m. contest has the 8-6 Forest Lady Bearcats hosting Pearl. The 13-2 Forest boys play Lake at 6:15. The final game of the day has the 14-1 Lady Warriors of Choctaw Central squaring off with the 11-2 Newton Lady Tigers at 7:30.
The 6-7 Choctaw Central boys get a first-round bye. Play resumes Thursday with loser's bracket contests. The semifinals are slated for Friday with the finals set for Saturday.
The Neshoba Central Invitational will be a four-team round-robin tournament. Play begins Thursday at 4 p.m. with West Lauderdale's 15-3 Lady Knights meeting Philadelphia, 6-9. At 5:30, the 11-4 Tornadoes of Philadelphia face the 13-4 Knights of West Lauderdale. At 7, the 14-5 Neshoba Central Lady Rockets take on Kosciusko, while the 13-4 Rockets meet the Kosciusko Whippets at 8:30.
West Lauderdale's Lady Knights went 3-0 in the Mississippi-Alabama Challenge last week in Birmingham, Ala., while Neshoba Central's Lady Rockets were 2-1. The Neshoba Central boys went 3-0 in winning the Philadelphia-Rush Medical Holiday Classic last week, while the Philadelphia Tornadoes went 2-1 to finish second.
Friday's girls' games at Neshoba have West Lauderdale and Kosciusko playing at 4 p.m. and Neshoba Central and Philadelphia clashing at 7. The boys' matchups have Kosciusko squaring off with Philadelphia at 5:30 and Neshoba Central hosting West Lauderdale at 8:30.
On Saturday, the girls' contests have Kosciusko playing Philadelphia at 4 p.m. and Neshoba Central meeting West Lauderdale at 7. On the boys' side of the bracket, West Lauderdale plays Kosciusko at 5:30 with Neshoba Central meeting Philadelphia at 8:30.
Enterprise will also host a four-team round-robin tournament. On Thursday, Northeast Lauderdale's 9-9 Lady Trojans take on Stringer at 4 p.m. with the Trojans, 12-3, squaring off with the Red Devils of Stringer at 5:30. The 5-13 Lady Bulldogs of Enterprise host Southeast Lauderdale, 14-3, at 7 with the Enterprise boys meeting Southeast, 2-14, at 8:30.
The Northeast Lady Trojans also went 3-0 in the Mississippi-Alabama Challenge.
On Friday, Southeast and Northeast meet in the two early games beginning at 4 p.m. with Enterprise playing Stringer in the two late games.
Saturday's action has Southeast taking on Stringer in the two early games beginning at 4 p.m. with Enterprise hosting Northeast in the two late games.
Wayne County's 17-1 Lady War Eagles and 13-1 War Eagles will be participating in a tournament at Northeast Jones, Thursday-Saturday.
Kemper County and Noxubee County will play in the B.L. Moor Tournament, Thursday-Saturday. The Kemper girls are 5-9, while the Wildcats are 12-4. The Noxubee girls are 17-2, while the Tigers are 5-11.