By Myra Bean

The North Panola Lady Cougar basketball team went into the lockerroom at halftime trailing district foe Senatobia 30-11.

The Lady Cougars (8-1 overall, 1-0 district) received little to no production from the starting five in the first half. Senatobia found a way to shut down Mississippi State signee Jenisha Jackson, holding her to one point in the first half.

The second half saw a changed Lady Cougar team on the court. The crowd saw a determined team that they usually see taking charge of the game.

Smiles that Senatobia sported going into halftime disappeared as senior Brittany Patton took charge of the offense and Jackson took charge of the defense, along with Audrey Taylor who scored nine of her 11 points in the second half.

Senior point guard Catonya Newsom was also held scoreless in the first half, but scored first for the Lady Cougars in the third quarter. Other starters got in on scoring along with Jackson, Taylor and Patton who scored 10 of her 22 points in the third quarter.

The Lady Cougars outscored Senatobai 21-14 to close the 19-point halftime deficit to 44-32. North Panola was not finished as they took the third quarter momentum into the fourth quarter.

The last five minutes of the game were the most exciting.

With 5:01 left in the game, Ceseare Jackson stole the ball and scored to cut the lead 48-37. Jenisha Jackson was credited with a steal and with 3:09 left in the game, Patton scored on back-to-back field goals to cut the lead to 53-50. Senatobia went up 55-50 and with 2:30 left in the game, Newsom hit a three-pointer to pull within two, 55-53.

Senatobia rimmed a shot and Jenisha Jackson came down with the rebound.  The Lady Cougars turned the ball over two straight times, losing it out of bounds.

Newsom stole the ball, got it to Patton who found Ceseare Jackson for the tying basket with 1:15 to go in the game. Newsom scored the go-ahead basket with 15.5 seconds left in the game. Patton stole the Lady Warrior inbound ball. As Taylor went to score she was fouled and scored the final point of the game with .5 seconds left to seal the victory, 58-55.

The Lady Cougars were ranked No. 4 in 4A by The Clarion-Ledger this week.

Also scoring for the Lady Cougars were Newsom, 8 points; Taylor, 11 points; Ceaseare Jackson, 5 points; and Angelica Davison, 2 points.

Last Friday, the Lady Cougars defeated Coldwater 38-35. North Panola led 16-11 at halftime. They had to fight off a determined Coldwater team which outscored them in the second half 25-22.

Jackson was the high scorer with 16 points, followed by Patton, 8 points; Taylor and Newsom, 7 points each.

The Lady Cougars will travel to Lewisburg on Friday and to Lafayette County on Tuesday.