By Myra Bean

There was some close district basketball action that took place for South Panola and North Panola girls’ teams.

The undefeated No. 3 ranked South Panola Lady Tigers kept their streak alive at 14-0 with a one-point 63-64 win over Starkville (10-4) Friday night.

South Panola showcased another leading scorer in Vetorra Cole as she put up 28 points in the contest.

“Vetorra was almost unstoppable,” Lady Tiger head coach Ralph Stallings said. “Tutti pinned her ears back and scored at-will. She had a great game.”

Starkville had the edge at the end of the first quarter leading 12-10. South Panola evened things up at halftime as the two teams went into the locker room tied at 33.

Neither team gave each other breathing room in the second half. South Panola outscored Starkville 17-14 in the third quarter, but Starkville edged the Lady Tigers out 16-14 in the fourth quarter to make things very interesting towards the end of the game.

South Panola’s Essie Thomas hurt her back and had to be taken to the hospital.

Stallings said she was back at practice Monday and would play tonight at Tupelo in the big district contest.

“It was the same as she had in Jackson with those back spasms,” he said.

Tupelo, ranked No. 10 in the Clarion-Ledger, fell to Columbus in district action Friday, 51-41.

Starkville’s postplayer who was very physical and was taking hits at Chasity Kearney all night long, making Stallings believe that threw her off her game. Kearney still scored in double figures with 14 points.

“I was proud of the way the girls held their composure in the last two minutes of the game and found a way to win,” Stallings said. “That’s the mark of a good team.”

At the end of the game, the Lady Tigers had a chance to go up by three points, but missed a couple of free throws.

Starkville got the last shot, but “we made them make a difficult shot and the girl missed,” Stallings said. “We were hanging on for dear life.”

Game time in Tupelo tonight is 6 p.m.

Another note of interest in girls basketball is the Murrah Lady Mustangs lost their first home game in four years to Madison Central 33-25.

North Panola Ladies

North Panola had another one point game, but it was a loss to district foe Rosa Fort, 49-48.

Monday morning Lady Cougar head coach Chris Yancy said he was still disappointed in the way the game ended.

North Panola had a chance to put the game away in the home stretch but Catonya Newsom missed five free throws. Newsom is one of the team’s best free throw shooters.

Jenisha Jackson was the only Lady Cougar in double figures and was the second highest scorer with 23 points.

Rosa Fort’s Jacarra Fell was the leading scorer with 27 points.

The Lady Cougars scrambled from a 10-point deficit at the end of the first quarter, 16-6.

At halftime Rosa Fort only led 27-24. The Lady Cougars had taken the lead 34-33 at the end of the third quarter. Rosa Fort outscored North Panola 16-14 for the win.

Tigers

The South Panola boys lost to No. 3 ranked Starkville 51-47. The lead changed hands throughout the contest.

Cougars

The North Panola boys (6-11) gave Rosa Fort (17-1) very little trouble in route to a 106-67 loss.

Tunica’s Martrevious Sanders led all scorers with 38 points.

Scoring for the Cougars were Rodriquez Thomas, 23 points, followed by Ricky Hunt with 14 and Kiwanis Bobo with 11. Rounding out the scoring for the Cougars were Wayne Miller, 9 points; Aldrick Russell, 7 points; Cameron Shorty, 2 points; and Brandon Bagwell, 1 point.

The Cougars will be off until Friday when they host Senatobia in district action beginning at 6 p.m.