From

staff reports

CLINTON, La. &8212; The Silliman Lady Wildcats took advantage on an unexpectedly off game offensivley by ACCS to pull out a surprising 41-32 win over the Lady Rebels Friday night.

In a game in which both teams went in with impressive records &045; ACCS at 14-2 and Silliman at 12-2 &045; the Lady Rebels struggled mightily in the first and third quarters.

&8220;We just couldn&8217;t get anything going on offense,&8221; Lady Rebels head coach Chuck Bauelre said. &8220;Defense was okay. Just played terrible on the offensive end. We turned the ball over. They pressed us, but we got through that.&8221;

What made things worse was that only four players scored for ACCS (14-3). Katie Anne Swinny and Ariana DeLaSalle led the Lady Rebels with 11 points each. Mary Kennedy led Silliman with a game-high 12 points.

And as Bauerle noted, the Lady Rebels didn&8217;t shoot the ball that bad. They just had a hard time taking shots against Silliman&8217;s defense.

The Lady Wildcats took a 13-5 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Lady Rebels got back in the game in the second quarter and trailed just 18-15 at halftime.

&8220;As bad as we played, we were only down three at halftime,&8221; Bauerle said. &8220;We tied the game in the third quarter.&8221;

That would be as close as ACCS would get to taking the lead as Silliman (13-2) ended up outscoring the Lady Rebels 12-5 in the third quarter for a 30-20 lead.

South Pike girls 57, Franklin County 56

MEADVILLE &8212; In an early but key Region 7-3A game for both teams, the Lady Eagles, ranked No. 5 in Class 3A, erased a four-point deficit early in the fourth quarter and then held on for a dramatic one-point win over the Lady Bulldogs.

Monea Cameron, who led Franklin County with 18 points, hit a big three-pointer to tie the game at 55-55 with just 25 seconds left. But with 16.8 seconds remaining, Monique Anderson, who had 14 points, hit two big free throws to give South Pike (8-4, 2-0) a two-point lead.

Franklin County (8-4, 2-1) had a chance to tie the game with two free throws with time winding down.

&8220;We hit one free throw, but we missed the second one,&8221; Lady Bulldogs head coach Charles Moore said. &8220;We had a last-second desperation shot that was missed. We played pretty good, but they clawed their way back into it.&8221;

Moore noted that unforced and untimely mistakes in the early stages of the fourth quarter helped turn a four-point lead that the Lady Bulldogs had as the quarter began into a four-point lead for the Lady Eagles.

South Pike took a 16-14 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Franklin County outscored the Lady Eagles a combined 26-20 over the next two quarters to take a 40-36 lead.

Kametria Slocumb led South Pike with a game-high 19 points. Latanya Williams had 16 points and Shareka Hunt had 11 points for Franklin County.

Vidalia girls 40, Sicily Island 19

FERRIDAY &8212; Nearly 24 hours after Vidalia was held scoreless in the second half of a 41-6 loss to Tensas Parish, the Lady Vikings came back with a vengeance as they rallied from an early six-point deficit to defeat the Lady Tigers at the Ferriday Invitational Tournament Friday afternoon.

The win was important because it was not only the opposite of what was an embarrassing performance by the Lady Vikings on Thursday night. It was also their second win of the season.

Tyshika Rodgers scored 14 points and Rachel Wagoner had 13 points to lead the Lady Vikings.

Vidalia (2-8) trailed Sicily Island 8-2 after one quarter of play, but the Lady Vikings took the lead for good by outscoring the Lady Tigers 12-4 in the second quarter. Vidalia then outscored Sicily Island a combined 26-7 in the second half.

Natchez High girls 49, Tioga (La.) 34

NATCHEZ &8212; For the second time this week, the Lady Bulldogs pulled out an upset win over good teams, one on the road and the other at home.

On Tuesday night, it was Franklin County on its home court. Friday night they overcame a sluggish second quarter to defeat the Lady Indians at the Mary Jean Irving Memorial Gymnasium.

Ke&8217;Airra Jones had another strong performance for the Lady Bulldogs as she finished with a game-high 20 points. Courtney Barber led the Lady Indians with 12 points.

Natchez High (7-5) got off to a good start on both ends of the court and by the time the first quarter was over, the Lady Bulldogs had an 11-3 lead. But Tioga (9-4) came out more aggressive in the second quarter, hold the Lady Bulldogs to just four points. But the Lady Indians still trailed at halftime, 15-13.

Both teams scored one point more in the third quarter alone than they did in the entire first half. Natchez High took a 31-27 lead into the fourth quarter &8212; the quarter that decided the outcome of the game.

The Lady Bulldogs outscored the Lady Indians 18-7 in the final eight minutes.

Claiborne Academy girls 50, Tensas Academy 26

HAYNESVILLE, La. &8212; Ashley White, Morgan Simpson and Carli Newell combined to score 42 of the team&8217;s 50 points as the Lady Rebels rolled to a 24-point win over the Lady Chiefs.

White ended up with 17 points, Simpson with 13 points and Newell with 12 points as Claiborne Academy took a 10-5 lead after one quarter of play and never looked back.

Kaitlen Emfinger led Tensas Academy (3-14) with 10 points.

West Lincoln girls 56, Cathedral 23

BROOKHAVEN &8212; Kasey Smith scored 11 points and Ashley Montgomery added 10 points as the Lady Bears rolled to a 33-point win over the Lady Green Wave in a Region 7-1A game.

The first quarter was one that Cathedral (1-11, 0-2) would rather forget. The Lady Green Wave was held scoreless in the first quarter, which ended with West Lincoln taking an 8-0 lead.

Things didn&8217;t get any better for Cathedral, which found itself trailing 25-4 at halftime and 40-11 at the end of the third quarter. Kristian Dobard led the Lady Green Wave with a game-high 13 points.

Tensas Parish girls 61, Ferriday 43

FERRIDAY &8212; Led by Whitney Darden and Sally Guy, the Lady Panthers opened up a close game with a 20-9 advantage in the second quarter en route to an 18-point win over the Lady Trojans at the Ferriday Invitational Tournament.

Darden finished with game-high 23 points and Guy added 10 points for Tensas Parish (10-3). The Lady Panthers had a 13-7 lead over Ferriday (2-10) at the end of the first quarter, but a dominating performance in the second quarter gave them a 33-16 halftime lead.

Ferriday made the outcome a little more respectable with a 17-8 advantage in the fourth quarter. Jasmine Upchurch scored 13 points and Briana Foster had 10 points for the Lady Trojans.

Tioga (La.) boys 71, Natchez High 51

NATCHEZ &8212; While some college scouts were at the game looking at Tioga&8217;s Charles Clark, it was the play of Mel Smith and Carlos Tatum that stole the show as they combined for 45 points in the Indians&8217; win over the Bulldogs.

&8220;They have some good players. They pressure you offensively and defensively,&8221; Bulldogs head coach Mike Martin said. &8220;We didn&8217;t shoot the ball well. We had too many turnovers.&8221;

Natchez High (5-7) found itself behind the eight ball in the first quarter as Tioga (13-3) jumped out to a 17-7 lead. The Bulldogs hung tough with the Indians throughout the rest of the game, but couldn&8217;t get a rally going to get them over the hump.

Smith and Tatum, along with Clark, had a lot to do with that. Smith finished with a game-high 23 points and Tatum had 22 points. Clark finished with 14 points.

&8220;He&8217;s a good wing player,&8221; Martin said of Clark. &8220;He shoots the ball well. But they have a couple of other good players.&8221;

Jason Bruce led Natchez High with 21 points. Cameron Logan had 12 points and Deshawn Griggs added 11 points.

Ferriday boys 74, Tensas Parish 63

FERRIDAY &8212; This is one week the Panthers would like to forget. They went into this week with an 8-2 record. After Friday night&8217;s loss to the Trojans at the Ferriday Invitational Tournament, they have now lost three straight games.

Tensas Parish trailed Ferriday (5-7) 19-10 after one quarter of play, but fought back and cut the lead to four points at the end of the third quarter. But the Trojans, led by Montrell Tennessee and Joshua Upchurch, ended the rally by outscoring the Panthers 18-11 in the fourth quarter.

Tennessee led all scorers with 20 points and Upchurch had 15 points. LaDerek Metcalf chipped in with 13 points for the Trojans. Ralph Johnson and Marcus Walker led the Panthers with 18 points each.

Centreville boys 67, WCCA 62

CENTREVILLE &8212; With three players in double figures, the Tigers jumped out to a 21-14 lead and then held off a fourth-quarter rally to defeat the Rams Friday night.

Watkins had 14 points, Davis added 12 points, and Lockwood scored 10 points for Centreville, which had an 11-point lead after three quarters of play only to hold off a late rally by WCCA (1-8).

Christopher Haughton led WCCA with 10 points. Sean Venezia, Zach Pourciau and George Davis had nine points each.

West Lincoln boys 65, Cathedral 43

BROOKHAVEN &8212; Jeremy Byrd scored 14 points, Aaron Shaw had 13 points and Bradley Rice added 11 points as the Bears remained undefeated in Region 7-1A play with a convincing win over the Green Wave.

West Lincoln put this game away with a dominating performance in the first half. The Bears (8-6, 3-0) had a 22-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and then took a commanding 38-18 lead over Cathedral (7-8, 0-2) at halftime.

Juan Gray led the Green Wave with a game-high 16 points and Andy Lucas had 10 points.

Sicily Island boys 65, Vidalia 56

FERRIDAY &8212; Vidalia had no answer for Sicily Island&8217;s Carlos Gray, who lit them up for a game-high 29 points as the Tigers rallied in the fourth quarter to upset the Vikings at the Ferriday Invitational Tournament.

Gary&8217;s effort, along with the play of Deon Dunbar and Dwan Branson, helped Sicily Island rally from a 35-31 deficit at the end of the third quarter. The Tigers outscored the Vikings (8-2) 24-11 in the fourth quarter.

Dunbar finished with 13 points and Branson had 11 points. Gary Stewart led Vidalia with 13 points and Brandon Hawkins had 12 points.

Patrick Jones