Southeast edges out West girls

By By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
Feb. 20, 2004
CHOCTAW After a pair of double-digit wins to start the second round of the Division 5-3A basketball tournament, the Southeast Lauderdale and West Lauderdale girls' team changed up the pace in the Choctaw Central gym on Thursday.
The Lady Tigers (29-2) squeaked out a 52-47 victory over the Lady Knights (23-8) in the third game of the evening at the Scalping Ground.
Southeast's and West's game, in which neither team held more than a one-point lead until the closing minutes of the first half, was in stark contrast to the opening games of the evening.
The Choctaw Central girls posted a 93-48 win over Carthage in the night's first game, and the Choctaw Central boys' edged out Forest 75-63 in the second game of the night.
The West Lauderdale boys' basketball team wrapped up the evening of prep basketball posting a 71-48 win over Southeast Lauderdale.
The Knights (17-6) will meet the Warriors (26-5) in the boys' divisional championship game at 8:30 tonight, and the Lady Tigers will clash with the Lady Warriors for the girls title at 7 p.m.
SE Lauderdale (girls) 52
W Lauderdale 47
The Lady Tigers sealed their berth into the divisional championship game thanks to a slippery senior guard, who was also cool as ice on the free-throw line.
With Southeast holding a 50-47 advantage, the Lady Tigers' Samantha Smith received an inbounds pass with 27 seconds left on the clock.
Smith streaked down the court, and avoided the Lady Knight defenders for 12 seconds to bring the clock down to 15 seconds left before she was fouled.
Smith, who finished the game with 10 points, drained a pair of free throws to give the Lady Tigers a five-point lead, and the Lady Knights were unable to score in the final 15 seconds.
Shalonda Mitchell tallied 11 points to pace Southeast's offense in the win, and Stacy Tate scored nine.
Vankeila Wilson scored a game-high 17 points for West, and Shannon Loyd added 15 in the loss.
West and Southeast traded one-point leads throughout the game's opening 14 minutes, until the Lady Tigers hit back-to-back three-pointers in the closing minutes of the first half.
Smith knocked down a three-point shot with 2:11 left in the first half, and Lashonda Hall nailed another three a minute later to give the Lady Tigers a 28-23 advantage.
Mitchell added a layup with 30 seconds left in the first half to push Southeast's lead to 30-23, but the Lady Tigers pushed their lead to 31-25 at the break.
Southeast carried a 41-31 lead into the final quarter, but West battled to within three-points of the lead, 50-47, in the game's closing seconds, before Smith sealed the win.
Choctaw (girls) 93
Carthage 48
The Lady Warriors went on a 21-2 run in the opening five minutes of the third quarter to advance to the Division 5-3A championship game.
Choctaw, which held a 40-25 lead after the first half, forced eight Carthage turnovers in the first four minutes of the second half, as the Lady Warriors built a 68-32 lead by the end of the third quarter.
Chantay Frazier scored a game-high 29 points for Choctaw, and Mystee Dee and Ashley Flint added 19 and 14, respectively.
Choctaw (boys) 75
Forest 63
The Warriors took their first lead of the game, 11-10, on a three-point play by Rodgrick Anderson with 3:34 left in the first quarter, and the team never looked back.
Choctaw build a 37-27 lead by the end of the first half, but Forest cut its deficit down to 39-31 a minute and a half into the third quarter.
The Warriors' Scotty Nickey and Anderson stopped Forest's brief run with a pair of three-pointers to take a 42-35 lead with 5:16 left in the third. Choctaw finished the quarter holding a 57-46 advantage.
Anderson scored 22 points to pace the Warriors' offense, and Nickey added 18. Sean Ahshapanek tallied 15 points for Choctaw, and Duran Morris added 12 in the win.
Jacquas Jones scored 19 points for Forest, and Braxton Boone added 17.
W Lauderdale (boys) 71
SE Lauderdale 48
After holding a slim three-point lead entering the second half, the West Lauderdale boys' outscored Southeast Lauderdale 21-7 in the third quarter to take a 52-25 lead into the final quarter.
Four Knights scored in double figures in the win. Lee Nelson paced West's offense with 15 points, and Chris Seaphus added 14. Daniel Huggins and Mark Ford each scored 12.
Chris Gordon tallied 16 points for Southeast.