West sweeps Choctaw
By By Austin Bishop/EMG regional sports director
January 18, 2003
CHOCTAW If there were any questions as to who were the basketball teams to beat in MHSAA Division 3-5A this year, the West Lauderdale boys and girls answered them on Friday night.
The Knights, now 18-2 on the season, overcame a 20-point second-half deficit to take a thrilling 64-63 win over Choctaw Central at the Scalping Grounds.
That gave West Lauderdale a sweep over Choctaw Central, something that rarely happens on the reservation, as the No. 3-ranked Lady Knights rolled past the No. 8-ranked Lady Warriors 63-40.
It looked like the Warriors would hold spoil West Lauderdale's comeback bid, when Shaun Dougherty hit a five-foot driving leaner with 10.6 seconds left to put the home team up 63-62.
West called time out with 7.5 seconds left, and when play resumed, drove the ball the length of the court with Karlos Lewis penetrating to the goal for a layup with 1.8 seconds to play to give the Knights the winning margin.
He was fouled on the play, but missed the free throw. Choctaw Central rebounded, but didn't have time to get off a shot at the winning three-pointer.
Choctaw Central, now 16-4 on the season, scored the first five points of the second half to go up 38-18 on a three-pointer by Dougherty with 7:16 left in the third quarter.
From there the Knights went on a 24-7 run to cut the Choctaw Central lead to 45-42.
The Warriors stretched it out to seven at 50-43 on another three-pointer by Dougherty with 7:32 left in the game, before the Knights fought back to tie the game at 54-54 on a basket by Lewis with 4:14 to play in the game.
West's Calvin Moore ripped the Choctaw Central defense to shreds in the second half, scoring 24 of his game-high 34 points over the last two quarters.
Lewis and Lee Nelson had nine points each for West, while Dougherty led CCHS with 25 points and Deon Lewis added 16. Anslem Henry scored 11.
West girls 63
Choctaw Central 40
The Lady Knights, now 20-2 overall and 7-0 in league play, outscored the Lady Warriors 39-19 in the second half on the way to the 23-point win.
Shannon Lloyd gave West Lauderdale a big boost to start the second half, scoring the third quarter's first seven points to turn the Lady Knight's 25-21 lead into a 32-21 advantage. The 6-foot-2 center finished the night with 18 points.
While Lloyd and the Lady Knights were converting their scoring opportunities in the third quarter, the Lady Warriors went nearly the first six minutes of the second half without scoring from the floor, finally breaking the ice when a basket by Chantay Frazier cut the WL lead to 40-26 with 2:16 left in the the third.
While Choctaw Central was having a hard time getting their shots to fall, they were having an even tougher time of getting offensive rebounds.
Choctaw Central led 17-15 with five minutes left in the first half, before the Lady Knights scored nine straight points to go up 24-17. Then CCHS whittled it down to four points at the half.
Huggins led WL with 22 points, while Lloyd scored 18 and Kristina Gardner and Jennings added eight each.
Frazier led CCHS, now 19-2 overall and 6-1 in league play, with 13 points, while Trish Phillips scored nine and Ashley Flint added eight.
The Choctaw Central girls face Provine at Terry today, while the Warriors take on Terry.
West Lauderdale hosts Neshoba Central on Tuesday and Heidelberg on Thursday.
