Lady Jackets notch win over Kemper

By By Rocky Higginbotham / special to The Star
Feb. 18, 2004
PHILADELPHIA The first two times Kemper County's girls met Williams-Sullivan on the basketball court this season, the Lady Wildcats exited with a victory, including a 17-point win at Durant and a one-point thriller in DeKalb.
But Tuesday night in an opening-round contest at the Division 5-2A Tournament, Portia Webster and the Lady Yellowjackets would not be denied.
Webste notched a double-double, with 27 points and 24 rebounds, and Williams-Sullivan edged Kemper 56-49 in an elimination game.
The win sends the Lady Jackets into a 7 p.m. semifinal contest on Thursday against top-seeded Newton High.
Host Philadelphia, which hammered the Mississippi School for Math and Science 75-12 in Tuesday's other girls' contest, will battle Ackerman in the 4 p.m. semifinal Thursday.
In Tuesday's only boys' action, Kemper County spanked MSMS 101-62, setting up a semifinal showdown with Philadelphia Thursday at 8:30 p.m. Williams-Sullivan and Newton tangle in the other boys' semifinal at 5:30 p.m.
Williams-Sullivan 56
Kemper (girls) 49
Webster tallied 15 points and 14 rebounds in the first half alone, as she led the Lady Jackets to victory.
Kemper led by as many as seven points late in the first quarter, but two putbacks by Webster made it 16-13 after one period, and Williams-Sullivan was up 24-23 at halftime.
A 10-2 run to start the third quarter pushed the Lady Jackets' lead to nine, and Williams-Sullivan led by double-digits on a couple of occasions before settling for the seven-point victory.
The Lady Jackets got 11 points from Brittany Moore, and Kristina Scruggs added nine points and 12 rebounds.
Kemper got 11 points from Melody Nave and nine points and 14 rebounds from freshman Javitia Eades. The Lady Wildcats finished 8-23.
Philadelphia 75
MSMS (girls) 12
The Lady Tornadoes started the game with a 22-3 run and were up 39-5 by halftime, having no trouble improving to 23-4 for the season.
Philly, which had pushed its lead to 57-7 going into the fourth quarter, was led by Dominetrix Hunter's 18 points. Irecy Bowden scored 14.
No player had more than three points for MSMS.
Kemper County 101
MSMS (boys) 62
The second-seeded Wildcats started the game with a 28-5 run and clocked the seventh-seeded Blue Waves.
Kemper, 17-14, was up 30-11 after one quarter and 52-29 at halftime.
Twelve of the 13 players who dressed out for Kemper scored, and the Wildcats forced MSMS into 35 turnovers.
Shardricus Thompson had a game-high 20 points in the win, and Rodricus Hopson scored 19
MSMS got 13 points each from Ross Woods and Oghale Igovodha.