Blowouts rule first night of 5-4A Tourney

By By Ryan Satcher / staff writer
Feb. 11, 2003
Blowouts reigned in the first day of the District 5-4A tournament at Northeast Lauderdale on Monday night.
The Northeast Jones girls, Quitman boys and West Jones girls all took big victories to move into the second round.
Northeast Jones defeated Florence in the first game of the night 74-27. Quitman then beat Florence 72-24 in the night's only boys' game and West Jones closed out the night with a 75-42 win over Magee.
Today's games will feature the West Jones boys and Magee at 4:30 p.m. Mendenhall and Quitman will follow in the 6 p.m. girls' game and the Northeast Lauderdale and Northeast Jones boys will close out the night at 7:30 p.m.
Quitman boys 72
Florence 24
The Quitman Panthers jumped out to a huge lead in the first quarter and never looked back on their way to a 72-24 victory over Florence.
The Panthers avoided a letdown against the Eagles and went on a 14-0 run to start the game.
The Panthers jumped out to a very quick lead as they went on a 14-0 run. Prince Trotter hit two three-pointers in the run to help Quitman get off to the quick start.
After Florence finally scored a basket with 3:10 left in the quarter, Quitman went on a 7-0 run to close out the quarter and take a 21-2 lead after the first.
The Panthers continued to extend the lead in the second quarter. The lead was 20 points with 4:32 left to play until half when Lonnie McGee scored seven straight points for the Panthers.
Quitman scored the final 14 points of the quarter to take a 41-9 lead at the half.
Jeremy Ross hit a three-pointer to start the half to get the Eagles into double digits, but Quitman answered with another 14-0 run to make the score 55-12 with 3:01 left in the third.
Quitman held a 60-14 lead at the end of the third quarter and then outscored the Eagles 12-10 in the final quarter to take the 72-24 victory.
Trotter finished with 15 points on five three-pointers to lead the Panthers. McGee scored 13 points in the win. Ross led Florence with six points.
Quitman will play again on Thursday against the winner of the game between West Jones and Magee.
West Jones girls 75
Magee 42
West Jones jumped out to a 15-0 lead to start the game and went on to take the big 75-42 victory over Magee.
The Lady Mustangs struggled a bit in the second quarter, but were able to hold a double-digit lead for almost the entire game.
The Lady Mustangs went on a 15-0 run to start the game. Magee finally scored with 3:53 left to play in the first quarter.
West Jones then went on an 11-4 run to take a 26-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. Holli Pulliam scored eight points in the quarter to lead West Jones.
The Lady Mustangs still led by 20 points with 4:30 left to play in the second quarter when Magee put together a little run. The Lady Trojans closed out the quarter with a 9-3 run to cut the lead down to 33-19 at halftime.
West Jones stretched the lead back out in the third quarter led by Kelsey Hopkins. She scored 16 points in the quarter and the Lady Mustangs outscored Magee 19-12 to take a 52-31 lead after the third.
The Lady Mustangs started the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run and outscored the Lady Trojans 23-11 in the final period to take the 75-42 win.
Hopkins led West Jones with 20 points while Mollie Meador had 13 points and Holli Pulliam scored 11. Jennifer Carter led Magee with 13 points and Laketha Durr scored 12 points in the loss.
Northeast Jones girls 74
Florence 27
Northeast Jones blew away Florence in the third and fourth quarter to take a 74-27 win on Monday.
Northeast Jones jumped out to a 13-10 lead after the first quarter. The Lady Tigers then outscored Florence 16-5 in the second quarter to take a 29-15 lead. Kristen Blackledge scored seven points in the quarter to lead Northeast Jones.
Kim Lewis scored nine points for the Lady Tigers in the third quarter and Northeast Jones ran away with the game. The Lady Tigers outscored Florence 25-9 in the quarter to take a 54-24 lead with one quarter left to play.
The Lady Tigers then outscored the Lady Eagles 20-3 in the final quarter to take the 74-27 win.
Lewis led Northeast Jones with 19 points. Sara Smith added 15 and Blackledge finished with nine. Ashley Jones led Florence with 12 points.