Knights advance to finals

By By Marty Stamper and Ryan Satcher/staff writers
January 3, 2004
PHILADELPHIA – West Lauderdale and Neshoba Central were battling tooth and nail in their boys' semifinal game in the Neshoba Invitational Tournament Friday night before the host Rockets ran low on gas.
West advanced to the finals with a 62-48 win, outscoring the Rockets 20-9 in the fourth quarter.
West led 15-10 after one quarter and held an 18-10 advantage in the second period before taking a 30-25 lead into the break. Neshoba Central closed to within 42-39 to end the third quarter.
The Rockets pulled even at 44-44 on a 3-point basket from Antonio Cole with 6:37 remaining. After another tie at 46-46, West coach Duran Clark called time out. When play resumed, his Knights went on an 11-0 run to take a 57-46 lead with only 2:54 to play.
The Rockets' scoreless streak lasted three minutes and 24 seconds before Anthony Jones connected from close range with 2:36 showing.
The Knights, 14-3, will face Division 5-3A rival Forest, 10-2, in tonight's championship game.
West got 16 points from Chris Seaphus, 15 from Lee Nelson, 12 from Daniel Huggins, 10 from Mark Ford, who started the 11-0 run with a 3-point basket, and six from Kolin Boyd.
Forest 55
Newton County 52
Michael Townsend buried a 3-pointer from the left wing with three seconds left in overtime to give the Bearcats the win between Division 5-3A members.
Newton County led 28-18 late in the first half before Forest closed to within 28-22 going into intermission.
The Bearcats battled to within 30-29 only to have the Cougars spurt back out to a 40-32 lead by the end of the third period.
Forest opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run to pull even at 40-40. The teams were tied on three other occasions before ending regulation knotted at 46-46.
Ricardo Alcanter drained a trey from the top of the key to put Newton County up 50-48 with 3:27 left in overtime.
Forest tied the game at 52-52 on a basket by VaNario Youngblood with 1:22 remaining.
Forest, 10-2, got 13 points from Townsend, eight each from Youngblood and Braxton Boone, and seven each from Alex Reed, Jacquas Jones, and Courtney Parhm.
Philadelphia 55
Wayne County 53
Philadelphia fought and fought in the Neshoba Invitational Tournament on Friday and came away with a big win in the end.
The Tornadoes went on a 9-0 run in the final two minutes to take a 55-53 win over the War Eagles.
The two teams traded blows in the first quarter before Wayne County went on a 9-2 run in the final three minutes of the quarter to take a 20-13 lead.
The War Eagles stretched the lead to 28-16 in the first few minutes of the second quarter. A three pointer and a basket by Bobby Goodin cut the lead to 28-21 and the Tornadoes battled back to trail 34-28 at halftime.
Philadelphia was able to cut the lead to four points with two minutes left in the third quarter on a pair of free throws by Trey Beamon but a basket by Cedric Jones and a shot by David Howard gave Wayne County a 46-39 lead at the end of three quarters.
The War Eagles led 53-46 with two and a half minutes left to play but Philly started a comeback.
Two free throws by John Williams cut the lead to five points. Goodin followed with three free throws to cut the lead to two.
A basket by Goodin with 1:30 left to play tied the game for the Tornadoes.
After Wayne County missed the front end of a one-and-one, Beamon was fouled.
He missed the first free throw but nailed the second to give Philly a one-point lead. Eric Lyons added a free throw with three seconds left to play and Philadelphia held on for the 55-53 victory.
Scott Central 58
Carthage 51
The Rebels of Scott Central jumped out to an early lead and held off Carthage in the Neshoba Invitation Tournament.
Scott Central stretched out to a 21-14 lead at the end of the first quarter and scored eight straight points in the second to take a 15-point lead.
Carthage battled back to make the score 33-22 at the break.
Scott Central held on to a 12-point lead at the end of the third quarter but Carthage cut into the lead with a 7-2 run in the fourth quarter to make the score 49-42.