Lady Cougars oust Heidelberg from 5-3A

By By Marty Stamper / EMG sports assistant
Feb. 12, 2003
CARTHAGE Two barnburners and an eight-point game Tuesday showed just how level the playing field is in the Division 5-3A Tournament. And these were first-round games where blowouts are supposed to be the norm.
Newton County had its share of ups and downs as the Cougars lost a 72-70 decision to Heidelberg before the Lady Cougars knocked off Heidelberg 61-60. Philadelphia's boys defeated Southeast Lauderdale 55-47.
In Thursday's semifinals, the Choctaw Central girls face Philadelphia at 4 p.m. followed by the top-seeded West Lauderdale boys and Philadelphia at 5:30. At 7, the top-seeded Lady Knights of West Lauderdale take on Newton County with the Choctaw Central boys playing Heidelberg at 8:30. Only the winners will continue their seasons.
Newton County girls 61
Heidelberg 60
Just last Friday night, Newton County took a 59-58 win at Heidelberg so who would have expected another one-point war four days later?
Heidelberg led 16-14 after one period and had a 33-28 halftime advantage. The Lady Oilers led 48-41 going into the fourth quarter and were still up by seven at 57-50 with 4:31 remaining.
Dominique Mapp buried a 3-pointer to start the comeback. A layup by Andrea Dubose made it 57-55 with 3:44 yet to be played.
After the teams swapped baskets, another layup by Dubose knotted the battle at 59-59.
Princess Bender gave the Lady Oilers a 60-59 lead with a free throw with 1:09 left.
Newton County got the ball to Lynnesha Ramsey and she scored in the lane with 36 seconds to go for a 61-60 lead.
One last Heidelberg threat under the basket was smothered and recovered by Kristin Chaney, who dribbled the final 12 seconds off the clock without being fouled.
Newton County, 18-10, got 20 points from Mapp, 13 from Dubose, 11 from Phyllis Cole, and eight each from Ramsey and Chaney.
Heidelberg got 15 points from Catina Fowler, 13 from Bender, 11 each from Shawanna Stevens and Mystee Dale, and eight from Monesha Cooley.
Philadelphia boys 55
Southeast Lauderdale 47
The Tornadoes jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the first quarter and held a 23-11 halftime advantage before Southeast battled back to within a point with 2:20 left in the third quarter.
B.B. Brassfield's layup capped a 6-0 Tiger run that pulled Southeast to within 33-32. Philadelphia responded with a 6-0 run of its own to take a 39-32 lead into the fourth quarter.
Southeast got to within 45-41 on a 3-pointer from Windham Campbell with 3:52 to go, but Bobby Goodin converted a three-point play at the 3:28 mark and Eric Lyons knocked down a pair of free throws with 2:05 left to extend the lead to 50-41.
Goodin led Philadelphia, 16-11, with 16 points. Lyons had 14, Jonathan Davis 11, and Richard Garrett nine.
Southeast, 12-17, got 13 points from Campbell, 10 from Brassfield, eight from Nehemiah Nwankpah, and seven from Chris Gordon.
Newton County 70
Mylan Anderson's 3-pointer for the win as time ran out drew iron and bounced off as Heidelberg improved to 14-15.
Newton County led 15-13 after one period only to have the Oilers carry a 34-30 lead into halftime. Leading 39-35, Heidelberg went on an 11-2 run to grab a 50-37 advantage. Two 3-pointers by Ricardo Alcantar late in the third quarter brought the Cougars back to within 52-45 heading into the final period.
The Oilers again stretched out to an apparently safe lead at 61-50 with just under four minutes remaining before the Cougars got hot again.
A 3-pointer from Delvion Merrill cut the Oilers lead to 70-67 with 38 seconds remaining. Michael Johnson and Travis Stephens each hit a free throw over the next 13 seconds to extend the lead to 72-67.
Another trey by Merrill made it 72-70 with 18 seconds remaining. Stephens missed two free throws with nine seconds left to set the stage for Anderson's potential game-winning shot.
Heidelberg got 17 points each from Johnson and Jordan Payne, Jessie Yates had 14, and Stephens and Nathan Maye both had eight.
Newton County, 9-17, got 16 points from Alcantar, 15 from Anderson, 13 from Merrill, 11 from Craig Pruitt, and eight from Windham. Alcantar had four treys with Anderson and Merrill getting two apiece.
Two missed one-and-ones and a blow layup, all in the final six minutes, helped finish the Cougars' season.