By Myra Bean

The North Panola Cougars pulled out another two point win over Center Hill Thursday, 58-56.

The Cougars were down nine points at the end of the first quarter, 15-6. They had a better showing the second quarter and had closed the lead going into halftime, 27-21.

The second half saw the Cougars get hot on the hardcourt, outscoring Center Hill 22-16 to tie the score at 43 going into the fourth quarter. The Cougars edged Center Hill 15-13 in the final quarter to win the game.

Of the Cougar’s 24 games, 14 have been decided (won or lost) by three points or less.

The Cougar teams have two more games left in the regular season. Tonight they will travel to Rosa Fort for a district matchup. Friday, they will host Rosa Fort in a make up game delayed by snow and ice, originally scheduled for January 8. Games tip off at 6 p.m. with the girls’ game.

Lady Cougars

The North Panola Lady Cougars took another district hit with a 55-37 upset loss to Center Hill Thursday night.

The Lady Cougars were playing without the services of two starters, Jenisha “Shaq” Jackson and Audrey “Doo Whop” Taylor. Taylor has been out the last two weeks for a right knee injury. Head coach Chris Yancy did not specify the reason for Jackson’s absence Thursday.

Both are expected to play in the 6 p.m. district game against Rosa Fort tonight.

The Lady Cougars fell to 17-6 overall, 6-4 district. They started the season 13-3 before the holidays and are 4-3 since resuming regular season play. The Lady Cougars are 3-3 in the last six district games.

Both teams scored 25 points in the second and third quarters. Center Hill had a slight 9-6 lead after the first quarter and led 34-31 at halftime.

Though it is hard to imagine, Center Hill turned up the jets and outscored the Lady Cougars 21-6 in the fourth quarter.

The first meeting between these two teams a couple of weeks ago on January 12 had an opposite score. The Lady Cougars dominated that contest 48-27.

Brittany Patton led the Lady Cougars in scoring with 13 points, followed by Catonya Newsom with 11. The other stats did not look so good for the Lady Cougars.

They had 23 turnovers and only 13 rebounds for the whole team. They hit three of eight free throws and shot 46 percent from field goal range.

Other scorers include Nadashaney Montgomery, 6 points; Teariny Wheatley, 3 points; Candance Mottley and Annastasia Johnson, 2 points each.