Lady Tigers celebrate Senior Night with win
By By Robby Atkinson / staff writer
Feb. 11, 2004
VIMVILLE Southeast Lauderdale head coach Joe Miller has coached many great players over the years and on Tuesday night five more players performed in front of the home crowd for the final time.
The starting five took full advantage of many Morton miscues and rolled to a 123-50 win to close out the Lady Tigers' 2003-04 home schedule on Tuesday.
Southeast Lauderdale (26-2) finishes the regular season on the road this Friday at Forest, and next week, the Lady Tigers will be taking part in the Division 5-3A tournament at Choctaw Central.
Southeast Lauderdale opened the game with yet another fast start to take a 12-2 lead over the Lady Panthers. The Lady Tigers forced seven Morton turnovers which led to four fastbreak baskets in the opening four minutes of the contest.
Morton trimmed the lead to 22-11, with 1:18 left in the first quarter, with a pair of baskets from Jessica McLin. But Southeast Lauderdale had the final word in the first quarter going on a 14-0 run to take a comfortable 37-11 lead heading into the second quarter.
The second quarter was much of the same, as the Lady Tigers took a 66-19 lead into the halftime break. Southeast opened the second with four consecutive field goals, Sam Smith drained three of the baskets, to give the Lady Tigers the momentum that lasted the rest of the first half.
Southeast Lauderdale ended the night with seven players in double figures and all of the seniors were among those scoring in double digits.
Stacey Tate led the way with a game-high 23 points, and Ebony Moore scored 22 points in the win. Shalonda Mitchell scored 19 points, and Lashondra Hall scored 17 points. Tiawana Pringle checked in with 12 points, Smith added 11 points, and Quita Reed rounded out the scoring with 10 points.
Kenosha Bowie led Morton with 17 points, and McLin chipped in with 15 points in the loss.
Morton (boys) 65
Southeast 55
The Panthers used 16 free throws in the fourth quarter and also fought off a late Southeast charge to hold on for a 10-point win over Southeast Lauderdale.
Morton held an 18-10 lead at the end of the first quarter and opened the second quarter with an incredible run to take a 30-16 lead at the end of the first half. Chris Lloyd had seven points in the first three minutes to spark the offense for the Panthers.
Lloyd led the way with a game-high 25 points, and Shay Hodge added 15 in the win for the Panthers. Alex West led Southeast Lauderdale with a team-high 20 points, and Lamar Crowell scored 15 points in the setback for the Tigers.