By Angie Ledbetter

The South Panola Tiger boys hosted the Eagles of Horn Lake in a close game Tuesday night and fell 57-55. It was a rematch from December 2 when the Tigers won the battle 58-57.

Rico Keys led the team with 18 points followed by Quen Robinson with 15 and Antonio Jones with 10. Rounding out the scoring for the Tigers are Kerrion Moore, 5, James Spraggins, 4 and Terrance Lamar 2.

The Tigers were 22 of 37 from the floor (57 percent), 9 of 14 from the free throw line and had 16 turnovers. The Eagles were 19 of 33 from the floor (58 percent).

Scoring for the Eagles were Kendrick Moore and Darius Woods with 14 and Josh Jones with 12.

The Tigers never took the lead in the game but tied it a few times.  The game was close and the Tigers had a chance to win it.

The Eagles scored 17 points in the first quarter to the Tiger’s 12. Antonio Jones scored 8 of the Tiger’s 12 points.

In the second quarter the Eagles scored 16 to the Tiger’s 15.  Baskets by Robinson and Keys put the game within range again making the score 17-16 in favor of the Eagles with 7:26 on the clock. A three pointer by Robinson put the Tigers within 2 (21-19), with 5:40 left on the clock. The game was tied at 23 with 4:14 left on the clock when Spraggins hit the basket for two points.

In the third, the Eagles outscored the Tigers by only one point, 11-10. The game was tied at 35 with 4:15 on the clock when Keys hit a long range two pointer.  It was tied again at 37 with 3:12 left on the clock.

In the fourth, the Tigers took some control and outscored the Eagles 18-13 but couldn’t get the win. Keys hit a three at the 3:45 mark making the score 54-49 in favor of the Eagles. After an Eagle turnover, Moore hit a three point play bringing the score to 54-52. Spraggins went to the line making one of one free throws and tied the game at 55 with 2:26 on clock.  The Eagles went to the line with 13.4 seconds left in the game and made both baskets giving the two point win to the Eagles.

          “I thought last night was the best athletic shooting team that we’ve faced,” said Head Coach Charlie Howard. “They shot the ball so well against us and that was the key. We had several opportunities to score late in the ballgame but we didn’t get the ball into the hand of our best scorers. If I had to design a play and say, I want these guys to score, the two that took the shots wouldn’t have been the two that I would’ve wanted to take the shots. It worked just the opposite. That’s only those two possessions. We broke down on the defensive end, we didn’t keep them from driving the base line and we didn’t contest shots. We were defensively out of sink.”

          “Horn Lake will be one or two in there division.”

          “We were 9 of 14 from the free throw line and that’s a big difference when you lose by two points. We have to go back to the drawing board and get ready for Columbus.”

          The Tigers will travel to Columbus tonight to take on the Falcons whom they beat 68-45 on January 16.

          Tupelo beat Columbus 77-54 on Tuesday night.