Wayne County gets past Brookhaven
By By Dale McKee / EMG sports writer
Feb. 27, 2004
LAUREL The Wayne County Lady War Eagles used an aggressive, pressuring man-to-man defense to claim a 46-31 win over Brookhaven in the opening round of the South State girls' Class 4A basketball tournament being held at Northeast Jones.
Wayne County (25-6) will now meet defending state 4A champ Bay High (26-5) today at 6 p.m. in the semifinals of the tournament. The Lady Tigers defeated South Jones 58-44 to advance.
Brookhaven (22-13) jumped out to an early lead scoring two quick buckets to lead 6-2 halfway through the period. WC regrouped behind senior Ratassia
Worsham, who scored eight points in the quarter, as WC led 9-8 after the opening eight minutes.
The Lady Panthers tallied early in the second period to take a 10-9 lead. Worsham then scored on an "old-fashioned" three-point play (a bucket and a free throw), and then Deanna Powe hit a three-point goal, and Wayne opened a 15-10 lead that it never relinquished.
Wayne led by as many as seven points in the second period, but Brookhaven scored the final two points of the half to cut the margin to 22-17.
Both teams struggled in the scoring zone in the third period, and with only 1:18 to play in the period Wayne County led 27-24. The Lady War Eagles led 31-26 entering the final quarter.
Wayne County outscored Brookhaven 15-5 in the final eight minutes of the game to advance to the next round.
Worsham, an Ole Miss signee, led the winners with 22 points while Kathy Bivens, Carter, and Powe all scored six points each. Kristian McCray and Anna Rutman, who each netted 13 points, led Brookhaven.
