Knights strong in opener

By By Austin Bishop / EMG regional sports director
Nov. 5, 2004
Veteran West Lauderdale boys basketball coach Duran Clark liked what he saw in his team's season-opening 78-57 win over Enterprise on Thursday night, for the most part.
In the girls game, the Lady Knights moved their record to 1-1 for the season with a 48-24 win.
The WL boys knew they were going to have some offensive firepower going into the season.
The Knights had four players in double figures for the game, with Mark Ford pouring in 24 points, dishing out six assists and coming up with four steals.
Tony Jones had 16 points for the 1-0 Knights, followed by Tony Jones with 16, Scott Grady with 14 and Gardner with 10. Daniel Huggins scored eight.
West Lauderdale built a quick 11-2 lead and led 17-9 at the end of the first quarter of play. The Knights led 24-14 with 6:14 to play in the half, which was the closest Enterprise would get for the rest of the game.
WL scored 14 of the next 16 points and cruised to a 44-23 halftime lead.
Ford opened the third quarter with a three-pointer as the Knights kept pouring it on to lead 64-37 after three quarters of play.
Bubba Stockman had an outstanding night in the paint for Enterprise, scoring 20 points for the Bulldogs. Chris McGowan tossed in 12 points, while Maurice Dixon added 10.
Lady Knights 48
Lady Bulldogs 24
West Lauderdale outscored visiting Enterprise 14-6 in the third quarter to turn an 11-point halftime lead into a 38-19 advantage at the end of three quarters of play.
The game was sloppily played in the early going. The two teams committed 21 fouls between them in the first quarter alone. Those fouls didn't result in a lot of points.
At the half the two teams had combined for 33 fouls, but Enterprise was just 5-for-13 from the free throw line, and West Lauderdale had made just 11 of 33 free shots.
Sha McNeil led West Lauderdale with 14 points, while Jessica Gray had 16 for Enterprise.