Leake boys beat ACCC; Kemper falls

By By Marty Stamper / EMG sports assistant
Feb. 25, 2003
CLINTON When it comes to performing on a big stage, it helps if one has been there before.
That was the case in the opening round of the 33rd-annual MPSA Overall Tournament Monday at Mississippi College's A.E. Wood Coliseum.
Kemper Academy's Lady Rams, making their first Overall appearance since 1977 and just their second ever, lost 61-46 to Jackson Prep.
Leake Academy's boys, participating in their 14th Overall and their second straight, knocked off Adams County Christian School 91-76.
Leake Academy's Rebelettes, making their 15th Overall appearance, but their first since 2000, lost 66-60 to Copiah Academy.
Jackson Prep 61
Kemper girls 46
Prep scored the game's first 13 points before Kemper's Megan Whitaker broke the ice with a basket with 1:55 left in the first quarter.
Coupled with a six-minute, 14-second scoring drought to end their Class A State Tournament consolation game with Strider Academy on Saturday, the Lady Rams went 12 minutes, 19 seconds between points.
Prep led 18-2 at the end of the first quarter and carried a 38-19 lead into halftime.
The Lady Rams missed their first six free throws.
Kemper opened the third quarter with a 5-0 run to get to within 38-24.
Prep extended its lead to 49-26 with 2:21 left in the third quarter on back-to-back three-pointers from Anna McVey.
Prep led 55-36 to start the final period.
Kemper held a 10-6 advantage over the final eight minutes for the 15-point margin.
Kemper (24-13) got 16 points from Whitaker, 10 from Leslie Beach, and nine from Libby Myers.
Prep (31-5) got 12 points each from Ruth Schimmel and Lauren Wade.
Leake boys 91
Adams Christian 76
Joshua Chamblee had 18 points by halftime and teammate Daniel Jones had 15 as Leake (33-7) took a 47-30 lead into intermission.
Chamblee finished with 29 points, while Allen Byrd had 17 assists to go with 11 points. Jones had 23 points, Adam Bobo 13, and Charlie Lavender 11.
Over the first two quarters, the Madden team had a 33-17 advantage on the boards. Adams also had turned the ball over 16 times.
Adams (19-12) got 22 points from Dustin Case, 20 from Luke Ogden, and 18 from Glenn Williams.
Leake faces Delta (33-6) tonight at 8 p.m. The game may be heard on WSSI-FM 98.3.
Leake 60
Foul woes plagued the Rebelettes throughout the contest as they were upset by Copiah.
Leake was whistled for 35 fouls with four players fouling out, including top scorers Kristin Caldwell and Greggina Tadlock.
Caldwell exited with 1:03 left in the third quarter after picking up two fouls in a 19-second span.
Tadlock, who picked up four fouls in the first half, fouled out with 7:03 remaining.
Leake led by as much as 18-13 in the second quarter before the Lady Colonels went on an 8-0 run.
The Rebelettes got six straight points from Sarah James to take a 24-23 lead into halftime.
Copiah (25-17) took the lead at 30-28 on a three-pointer from Marcy McDonald and never trailed again.
The Lady Colonels stretched out to a 45-35 advantage with 1:22 left in the third period, before Leake began to battle back.
Jessica Dickens hit a trey and a deuce to pull the Rebelettes to within 48-45 with just over seven minutes left.
A 7-0 run, with all seven points coming at the free-throw line, put Copiah up 59-49 with 3:19 showing. Leake could get no closer than six points after that.
Copiah was 12-of-24 at the free-throw line over the final five minutes and 26-of-50 for the game. Carley Clayton got all 13 of her points at the charity stripe on 13-of-22 shooting.
Caldwell led Leake (39-4) with 18 points, Dickens had 15, all of which came in the second half, Lacie Culpepper had nine, and James added eight.
Copiah got 16 points from McDonald, 15 from Jackie Stowe, 13 from Clayton, and 10 from Lacey Williams.
The loss sends Wolverton into the 2003-04 season needing 16 wins to become Mississippi's all-time winningest girls' basketball coach.