Quitman boys win 5-4A title

By By Steve Swogetinsky / special to The Star
Feb. 21, 2004
QUITMAN The Quitman High boys and the Wayne County girls defeated the No. 1 seeds in their respective brackets Friday night to be crowned Division 5-4A champions.
The host Panthers defeated Mendenhall 66-59 in the boys title game, while the Wayne County girls downed Northeast Jones 62-60. All four teams will host games in the first round of the South State Tournament next week. In the consolation games, the Wayne County boys defeated Northeast Lauderdale 72-65, while the Mendenhall girls stopped Northeast Lauderdale, 58-46. All four of these teams will open play in the South State Tournament on the road next week.
Quitman (boys) 66
Mendenhall 59
With one starter returning from last year's team, this appeared to be a rebuilding season for the Quitman Panthers. It didn't turn out that way as the Panthers improved their record to 22-11 and claimed the division title.
"Our players worked hard all summer," said Quitman coach Steve Hampton. "They stayed together as a group and worked to improve. I'm very proud of them."
Leading 12-11 at the end of the first quarter, Quitman outscored Mendenhall 16-12 in the second period to go up 28-23 at the break. The Panthers started pulling away in the third quarter, outscoring the Tigers 21-14. Quitman went up 60-50 with 3:16 remaining in the third quarter and was able to keep the Tigers at bay for the rest of the contest.
"Mendenhall isn't 26-5 for nothing," Hampton said. "They are a fine team and it took a lot to beat them."
Prince Trotter scored 27 points to lead the Panthers. Alandis Cooks scored 11 points and Antoinne McKenzie added 10 for Quitman.
Wayne Co. (girls) 62
NE Jones 60
Ratassia Worsham sank nine-of-10 free throw attempts and two field goals during the fourth quarter to lead the Lady War Eagles past Northeast Jones.
"We want the ball in Ratassia's hands when it comes down to the fourth quarter," Wayne County coach Gina Skelton said. "I was pleased with our poise."
Northeast Jones took a 48-40 lead with six minutes left in the fourth quarter. Wayne County came back to make it a one-point game, 54-53, with 1:57 remaining in the game. The teams exchanged scores until Worsham sank two free throws with 21 seconds left to knot the score at 60-60.
Northeast Jones turned the ball over and Worsham was fouled with five seconds left on the clock. She sank both of her free throws and the Lady War Eagles held on to claim the division championship.
Worsham led Wayne County with 23 points while Lauren Pittman added 13. Kim Lewis led Northeast Jones with 17 points while Taphne Jackson added 15 points. Northeast Jones now stands at 26-2 on the season.
Wayne Co. (boys) 72
NE Lauderdale 65
Both teams were coming off disappointing losses in the semifinals from the night before.
"We needed to get a win behind us before South State," said Wayne County coach Geary Jackson as his team upped its record to 15-11. "I was proud of the way we came back and played."
Wayne County led 12-10 at the end of the first quarter. Then Northeast Lauderdale outpointed Wayne County 23-20 in the second quarter to lead 23-22 at the intermission. Both teams scored 20 points in the third quarter. Wayne County's J.J. Taylor stepped up with two three-pointers in the final stanza to put his team ahead.
Cedric Jones scored 19 points to lead the War Eagles, while Taylor tallied 16, and Kamarcus West and David Howard each tallied 12 points. Harold Graves scored 21 points to lead Northeast Lauderdale while Antonio Clayton scored 13 points.
Mendenhall (girls) 58
NE Lauderdale 46
The Lady Trojans of Northeast Lauderdale led 9-8 at the end of the first quarter. But then Mendenhall took over, limiting NEL to nine second quarter points while exploding for 25 of their own. At the intermission, the Lady Tigers led 33-18.
Michelle Taylor scored 18 points to lead the Lady Tigers. Angelica Burgess added 16 while Rededra Smith notched 14 points. Shaquita Bell scored 17 points to lead Northeast Lauderdale.
, which drops to 16-13 on the season.