By Brad Greer

 The North Panola boys basketball team cannot seem to do things the easy way.

For the third straight game, the Cougars pulled off another nail-biting victory as Deunta Howard’s put back of a Ricky Hunt missed shot with 16 seconds left  gave North Panola a 77-74 overtime win over a scrappy Independence squad Wednesday night in the championship game of the Cougar Classic.

With the win, the Cougars ran their winning streak to seven games in a row to improve to 10-5 on the season while Independence fell to a very deceiving 6-12 on the campaign. Meanwhile in the girls title game, Catonya Newsom and Brittany Patton combined for 67 points to lead North Panola  past Independence 71-56 to give the home teams a clean sweep on the night.

With the score tied 68-68 at the end of regulation, North Panola scored the first five points in the overtime period as Darius Loveberry banked home a three-pointer and Hunt sank a pair of freethrows for a 73-68 lead. But just as they did all game long the Wildcats fought their way back and took the lead  at 74-73 on Jeari Avant’s two free throws with 25 seconds remaining.

Following a timeout, North Panola worked the ball to Hunt in the right corner . Hunt’s shot bounced off the front of the rim, but Howard was there to snatch the rebound and kiss  the ball off the glass  for the game-winner.  The Wildcats Tana Newsom then  drove the ball down the court and heaved up a long range three-pointer that was off the mark as the horn sounded.

“We never gave up, we kept battling the whole game,“ said Hunt, who led the Cougars with 21 points. Even when we were down 37-31 at half we knew we were still in the game. Everyone pulled together, my boy Cam ( North Panola guard Cameron Shorty) hit some big shots as did Darius and Brandon (Bagwell). It was a total team effort. “

When asked if this win was an early Christmas present, Hunt replied “ Merry Christmas North Panola!”

The Wildcats sent the game into the extra period on a Avant  basket with 23 seconds left in the fourth quarter, this right after Loveberry’s layup put North Panola ahead 68-66.

Shorty followed Hunt with 15 points as the Cougars had four players reach double figures in scoring. Loveberry added 13 points before fouling out with 55 seconds remaining in the contest. Bagwell tallied 12 while Terrance Thurman registered eight. Howard chipped in with six while Marque Phillips finshed with two points.

Alvin Loveberry led Independence with 24 points while Avant added 19.

Lady Cougars

In the girls title game, the Lady Cougars shot a red-hot 15-of-28 from the floor in the first half to take a 37-27 lead at intermission before cruising to the victory.

The Lady Wildcats pulled within three points at 51-48 to start the fourth quarter only to have the cat-quick guard combination of Newsom and Patton take over the game. Patton hit a pair of layups followed by a jumper from an assist from fellow guard Audrey Taylor to make the score 57-48. Newsom then kissed a shot off the glass to expand the lead to 61-50 at the 4:01 mark.

Newsom then put the nail in the coffin with a trey from the right wing to give the Lady Cougars a 69-54 lead.

Newsom led all scorers with 24 points while Patton hit a perfect 11-of-11 from the field for 23 points. Taylor followed with 17 while Angelica Dawson finished with four points.

Jenisha Jackson added three points while Cearea Jackson and Nadashaney Montgomery had one point each. With the win, North Panola improved to 12-2 on the season.