SP splits with Lake Cormorant

By Brad Greer
Victories have come few and far between in recent weeks for the South Panola girls basketball team, but Tuesday night the Tigers put everything together as they ground out a 66-56 win at home over Lake Cormorant.
Marshala Doyle paced South Panola (8-10) with 18 points while Chole Morgan chipped in with 14 points. The Lady Tigers helped themselves at the free throw line connecting on 10-of-18 opportunities including 6-of-8 in a pivotal fourth quarter.
South Panola trailed 46-40 early in the fourth quarter before five straight points by Kaniya Ford trimmed the deficit with 6:18 to play.
Tamaye Williams’ three-pointer gave South Panola the lead for good, 50-48, at the 5:05 mark. The Lady Tigers later pushed their lead to 62-54 on four straight free throws by Doyle.
Lake Cormorant took a 17-7 lead after one quarter which saw 18 fouls called between the two teams.
South Panola began to chip away at the Gator lead in the second quarter as baskets by Williams and Doyle sparked an 11-3 run. The Lady Tigers took their first lead of the half at 25-24 on a Chole Morgan bucket with 1:31 left before intermission.
The Tigers extended their margin to 36-28 as the second half got underway only to have Lake Cormorant rally to go ahead 39-38 with under a minute to play in the third period.
Williams supplied seven points while Ty’Quera Victom, Ford and Takyra Webster came off the bench to contribute five points each for South Panola. Sedria Joy and Sydney Morgan added four with Benson and Breanna Bland rounding out the scoring with two points.
Lake Cormorant (boys) 47, South Panola 45
Unlike their first meeting where the Gators breezed to a 76-46 win, Tuesday’s battle came down to the wire with two free throws in the final seconds that proved to be the difference.
South Panola, which saw a early 21-10 lead late in the first half fade away, took a 36-32 lead going into the final frame only to have seven turnovers in the period prove to be their undoing.
Alex McKnight’s three pointer from the right corner gave Lake Cormorant a 44-43 lead with under a minute to play. After two free throws gave the Gators a 46-43 cushion, Kendricus Carlton sank a pair of free throws to pull South Panola within one, 46-45, with 13 seconds remaining.
After Tray Bailey hit the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity, the Tigers had one last gasp to tie the game or win it but failed to do so as two shots fell on deaf ears as the buzzer sounded.
Carlton led South Panola (6-6) with 13 points while Ernest Sanford added 10. Shaquille Jackson registered  seven  points.
Both teams started off slow as South Panola took an 8-5 advantage after one quarter of play. The Tigers  got hot as the second half got underway by going on a 10-0 run to take a 21-10 lead as Sanford hit on seven of the points.
Lake Cormorant (14-6) cut the margin to 24-17 at halftime on a Montez Allen basket and Kenny Lewis three-point play.
Montray Blackburn provided five points with Davonte Cathey and Robert Hentz adding two each. Ketrell Key finished with two points.
South Panola (JV boys)-46 Lake Cormorant-30
The Junior Varsity boys connected on five three-pointers to take the easy win.
Deronte Thomas led the way with 15 points while Chris Gaston and Keith Cole added seven each. Markevious Vaughn scored five points with Thaddeus Kirkwood adding three. Jerry Hebrins, Matt Burchfield and Stanwon Porter all had two points. Ben Rowsey rounded out the scoring with one point.
South Panola will end its three-game home stand today as they host Grenada beginning at 4 p.m.