Wildcats take 2OT victory

By By Will Bardwell/staff writer
December 21, 2003
HEIDELBERG Bruce Pope couldn't do anything about all of Meridian's missed chances against Heidelberg on Saturday, but he could give the Wildcats one more.
And he did.
With Meridian trailing Heidelberg 61-58 in overtime and the buzzer sounding, Pope's heave from mid-court banked off the glass and through the net to send the game to a second overtime session. The Wildcats out-ran and out-shot the exhausted Oilers in the final period and came away with a 75-65 win.
Joudan Payne scored 23 points to lead Quitman, and the Oilers' Shannon Jones had 14 points.
Pope finished with nine points for Meridian, but none were bigger than the three that came at the end of overtime.
With Meridian leading 66-65 with a minute to go in the second overtime, Pope sank two free throws to go up by three. It was all the breathing room the Wildcats needed.
The Oilers led by as many as 14 in the first half and held a 43-35 lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats stormed back. A Pope jumper cut the Oilers' lead to 46-40 early in the period.
Heidelberg stretched the lead back to nine points, but Meridian rallied again. An off-balance shot from underneath fell for Pope, bringing the Wildcats within three.
After one free throw fell and another rimmed out for Meridian, Jacolby Davis tipped in the rebound for the Wildcats to tie the game at 49 with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter. Davis scored a game-high 24 points.
After a Heidelberg free throw, a jumper fell for Cornelius Miles, who finished with 13 points. That shot gave Meridian a 51-50 lead its first of the game.
Meridian had a chance to win the game in regulation, but lost the ball out of bounds with seven seconds to play. Heidelberg's desperation shot at the buzzer fell far short, sending
the game to overtime.
The Wildcats were not the only ones who missed an opportunity to end the game late in the fourth quarter. The Oilers missed two free throws with 23.5 seconds to go in regulation with the game tied.
In the game between the schools' boys B-teams, Meridian beat Heidelberg 58-29.
Heidelberg (girls) 48
Meridian 35
Heidelberg got 17 points from Princess Bender and 10 points from Shawana Stevens in a 48-35 win over Meridian.
The Lady Oilers never trailed in the game, and after an early 2-2 tie, led for the rest of the contest.
Heidelberg jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first quarter and finished the period leading 18-8. Bender scored 10 points in the first quarter alone, and Stevens scored six over the same span.
Two quick layups by Brittany Davidson and Amber Walker helped Meridian cut the Lady Oilers' lead to 18-14 early in the second quarter. Heidelberg's defense controlled the rest of the first half, though, allowing just three more points over the final six minutes of the second period.
The Lady Oilers led 24-17 at halftime.
Meridian began another quick charge early in the third quarter. Courtney Wade dropped in a layup that brought the Lady Wildcats within four points, and Davidson hit a free throw to cut Heidelberg's lead to 25-22.
The Lady Oilers did not score a field goal for almost four minutes at the beginning of the second half, but during the same time, Meridian missed three of four free throws.
Jones said her team's defense was critical at a time it had trouble scoring baskets.
For most of the night, Heidelberg could do no wrong. Even when the Lady Oilers missed two straight free throws late in the third quarter, Stevens atoned by rebounding the second miss and laying it in.
April Maker stole a Lady Wildcats inbounds pass and sprinted down for a layup to complete a 10-0 Lady Oilers run at the end of the third quarter. Meridian's Megan Mendiola broke the scoring streak with a three from the corner, but Heidelberg still led 39-27 at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Davidson hit a free throw for Meridian with three minutes left in the fourth quarter, cutting Heidelberg's lead to 41-34, but the Lady Wildcats came no closer.