West falls to Prentiss

By By Marty Stamper/EMG sports assistant
February 29, 2004
SUMMIT If nothing else, the West Lauderdale Knights held Prentiss phenom Al Jefferson to nearly half of the 60-point average he had in the first two nights of the Class 3A Boys' South State Tournament.
Jefferson, a 6-foot-9 senior, still managed 31 points Saturday to lead Prentiss to a 45-39 win and the South State championship at Southwest Mississippi Community College.
If so, it would be for the 3A state championship.
Jefferson hit two free throws 15 seconds into the game to put Prentiss up 2-0.
Chris Seaphus, Mark Ford, and Daniel Huggins rotated holding the ball or dribbling it until just 10 seconds remained in the first quarter. Ford missed a 3-pointer and Huggins misfired on the putback as the Bulldogs led 2-0 after one period.
The Knights went on to miss their first six shots of the second quarter as Prentiss took a 6-0 lead.
Seaphus broke the scoring drought with a 3-pointer that cut Prentiss' lead in half with 4:44 to go in the second quarter.
A layup by Ford and a 3-pointer from the 6-foot junior gave the Knights an 8-6 lead with 3:22 left in the half.
Jefferson scored the next seven points to send Prentiss into halftime with a 13-8 lead. The Bulldogs committed no fouls in the first half and finished with just two for the game.
After going down 18-12, the Knights put together a 7-0 run to claim a 19-18 lead with 3:48 to go in the third period. Seaphus had a two-pointer and a trey and Huggins added a pair of free throws off a steal.
Jefferson made a rare journey outside the lane on defense and Scott Grady connected from close range to give the Knights their biggest lead at 21-18 with 1:50 to go in the third period.
A basket by Jefferson and a three-point play by Zack Magee put the Bulldogs up 23-21 with 1:07 remaining in the quarter.
Jefferson's basket with 10 seconds left gave Prentiss a 25-21 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Jefferson hit two short-range baskets and Magee made a pair of free throws as Prentiss opened the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run to go up 31-21 for the Bulldogs' biggest lead of the night. Two Knight turnovers factored into the run.
West, 28-9, got to within 38-33 with 2:02 to play on a trey and a breakaway layup by Seaphus.
Jefferson made it 40-33 20 seconds later and the Knights could get no closer than five after that.
West got 15 points from Seaphus, 13 from Ford, and nine from Huggins.
Prentiss, 25-6, got seven points from Magee in addition to Jefferson's 31.
The Knights will play the Senatobia-Marks Palmer winner in the first round of the state tournament Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. in Jackson.
Port Gibson, 13-23, advanced as the No. 3 team from the South with a 64-58 victory over Forest, which finished 24-11.