By Myra Bean
The South Panola Tigers ran into a determined Tupelo Golden Wave team and fell to district 2-5A action 74-56.

The Golden Wave (13-3 overall, 3-0 district) downed South Panola using some smart play. They kept Tiger leading scorer Antonio Allen away from the basket most of the first quarter. Keenon Draper got in early foul trouble and spent much of the game on the bench with four fouls. He had his third foul with 1:08 left in the first quarter.

The Tigers  (9-10 overall, 0-4 district) did get some perimeter shooting action from Rico Key who connected on four three-pointers on the night.

South Panola got the opening tip and Keys immediately scored a three. Tupelo answered with a three and tied the game. With 6:26 on the clock, it was another three again by Key for the Tiger 6-3 lead. On a back-to-back field goal and three-pointer, Tupelo took the lead 8-6 at the 5:36 mark. The Tigers tied the score at eight on a Draper field goal.

Going into the second quarter, Tupelo led 14-13. Tupelo scored six unanswered points before Allen hit his first field goal of the night with 5:27 left in the first half. Then Tupelo proceeded to go on a 10-2 scoring spree and take a 12-point lead, 29-17, with 2:43 to go.

On back-to-back field goals by Allen and a buzzer beater by Kerrion Moore, Tupelo’s lead was cut 31-23 at halftime.

As the Tigers missed field goals and Tupelo got the rebounds and field goals, the scoring gap increased between the teams. Tupelo had a 56-38 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Allen led the Tigers in scoring  with 16 points, followed by Key with 14. Other scorers include C.J. Raynor, 9 points; Antonio James, 5 points; Moore, 4 points; Patrick Howard, 3 points; Quen Robison, Michael Broadnax and Draper, 2 points each.

The Tigers will host Houston in non-conference action tonight. Tuesday, the Tigers will be home to host Cleveland East Side in non-conference action. Next Friday, they will host Columbus in a district 2-5A matchup. All games tip off after the girl’s games at 6 p.m.