By Myra Bean

The South Panola Lady Tigers had moved to No. 2 behind H.W. Byers due to a Murrah loss last Friday night. That No. 2 ranking might be short lived as the Lady Tigers (14-1) experienced their first loss of the season to unranked Tupelo Lady Golden Wave (16-4), 61-50 Tuesday night.

The district game was a rematch from Dec. 19 when the Lady Tigers won 48-43. Playing at Tupelo is hostile territory for most visiting teams as the Lady Golden Wave have only lost four times at home in the last four years. South Panola defeated Tupelo last February in the district tournament to earn the right to go to the state tournament.

It started out as a typical game between these two district powerhouse teams as Tupelo outscored South Panola 13-12 in the first quarter. The second quarter was the turning point as Tupelo left the Lady Tigers in the dust scoring 22 points, while holding South Panola to eight points for a 35-20 halftime lead.

The Lady Tigers were in catch up mode outscoring Tupelo 30-26 in the second half, but it was not enough to over turn the second quarter melee Tupelo reigned down on the Lady Tigers’ heads.

Scoring for the Lady Tigers were Chasity Kearney and Vetorra Cole, 18 points; Skylar Barnes, 9 points; Stalisha Draper, 3 points; and Jasmon Houston, 2 points.

Tupelo’s Amber Jackson was the leading scorer with 27 points.

Tigers

The South Panola Tiger boys (14-4) performed superbly bringing home a 53-48 district win over the Tupelo Golden Wave (14-5). Tupelo beat the Tigers by one point in December 40-39.

South Panola was the dominant team in the first quarter with a 17-7 lead. Tupelo’s defense got busy in the second quarter and held the Tigers to two points. The  Tigers led 19-15 at halftime.

The dominant Tiger offense was back in full force in the third quarter outscoring Tupelo 20-10 for a 39-25 lead going into the fourth quarter. Tupelo’s offense showed back up in the fourth quarter outscoring South Panola 23-14, but the Tigers held on for the win in the stretch.

Scoring for the Tigers were Kerrion Moore, 14 points; Quendarius Robinson, 12 points; Rico Keys, 11 points; Antonio Jones, 8 points; James Spraggins, 6 points; and Terrance Lamar, 2 points.

The Tiger teams are home tonight to host Columbus in a district makeup game which was postponed from December 9 due to inclement weather. Games begin at 6 p.m.