Fifth ranked West girls romp
By By Carver Rayburn / staff writer
Feb. 18, 2003
COLLINSVILLE West Lauderdale wasted little time getting down to business in first round playoff action Monday.
The No. 5 Lady Knights breezed by Wilkinson County at West Lauderdale Gym 80-43.
The Lady Knights made a big statement to the Lady Wildcats early and often as they came out of the locker room knocking down three-pointers and pushing the ball inside to Shannon Lloyd and Cierra Jennings.
West Lauderdale coach Jody Hurst was pleased with his team's offensive performance. The Lady Knights shot an impressive 66-percent from the floor.
After trailing to the visiting Lady Wildcats 3-2, West Lauderdale went on a 19-0 run highlighted by a pair of, three-pointers from Patty Monroe. Monroe finished the night with 13 points.
West showed little resistance heading into the second quarter leading 23-5. After Wilkinson County outscored the Lady Knights 9-4 in the first four minutes of the second quarter, West Lauderdale used an even distribution of perimeter shots and points in the paint to take a 44-25 lead into halftime. West outscored Wilkinson County 24-6 in paint points in the opening half and notched four, three-pointers.
The second half proved to be desperation time for Wilkinson County. The Lady Wildcats attempted 11 shots from behind the arc and only managed to knock down one. West Lauderdale outscored Wilkinson County 22-5 in the third and held on for the eventual 80-43 win.
A balanced offensive attack was what Hurst has been preaching all season long. That is exactly what he got from his Lady Knights in Monday nights game.
The Lady Knights' scorecard was about as balanced as you can get when it comes to high school basketball. Cierra Jennings led West Lauderdale with 18 points. Jennings was assisted by Patty Monroe with 13 points, J.J. Huggins with 12 points, Shannon Lloyd with 11 points and Kristina Gardner with nine points.
West Lauderdale improves to 28-3 with the victory and will travel to Choctaw Central this Friday for second round playoff action. The top three teams from this weekend's tournament will advance to the state tournament.
