By Angie Ledbetter

The South Panola Lady Tigers regained the district championship title after manhandling the Starkville Lady Yellowjackets 67-51 Friday night in the finals at Tupelo High School.

South Panola had defeated Starkville twice in the regular season. This win set up a home meeting last night with Murrah in the first round of the North State Tournament, but the score was not available at press time.

Senior Chasity Kearney and sophomore Christa Brown led the charge scoring a combined 42 points.

Kearney registered a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Brown had 19 points and four pivotal steals to lead the defensive charge.

Kearney was into double figures before halftime with 13 points, after scoring nine points in the first quarter.

“She gave it everything,” said Lady Tiger head coach Ralph Stallings. “It was probably the best all around game that she has played this year. She was worn out at the end and that’s why I kept calling timeout at the end to give her breathing time.”

The Lady Tigers led 15-14 after the first quarter.

In the first and second quarters, Turkessa Burgess was a force to be reckoned with as she scored seven points for the Lady Tigers

The Lady Tigers went on a 6-0 run in the second quarter and outscored Starkville 13-9 to lead 28-23 at halftime.

The Lady Tigers turned the heat up in the third quarter, scoring 20 points and getting into the double digit lead.

As the game went on and the starters began to tire, a problem developed for the Lady Tigers at the free throw line. The Lady Tigers were four of 12 from the charity stripe.

However, as the game wore on Brown picked up momentum scoring nine points in the third quarter.

Another scoring run in the fourth quarter, 13-4, iced the cake for the district championship for the Lady Tigers.

The Lady Tigers led 61-38 with 4:09 left in the game. The Lady Yellowjackets put up a fight as they retaliated and went on a 13-6 run in the last few minutes of the game but it was too little, too late.  

The Lady Tigers turned the ball over 14 times in the game and the Lady Yellowjackets had 25 turnovers.

Stallings said the team made up their minds in the second half they were not going to travel Monday night to start the North Half run.

“At one point we were up five points but could’ve gone up seven or eight but we made three straight trips and turned the ball over,” Stallings said. “I think they realized that. At halftime, we told them we could’ve easily been up double figures. It was whoever wanted it the most the last two quarters and my seniors stepped up and Christa Brown stepped up.”

Stallings summed up the game in one word, “awesome.”

He said he was pleased with the performance of the offense and defense.

“Starkville came in (Tuesday) and had a 23-2 run against Tupelo but they never got one of those runs on us,” Stallings said.

Even though the game was played last night, Stallings said it was crucial to host that game.

 “When you go on the road that Monday night you’ve got to travel long distance like we would’ve had and you get the kids out of their routine,” he said. “Now they’re going to sleep in their own beds Sunday night and take it easy Monday.”

Also scoring for the Lady Tigers were Burgess, 11; Dorian Winfield, 9; and Jelisa Lyons, 5.

Kala Williams led the Lady Yellowjackets with 22 points.

If the Lady Tigers oust Murrah, they will be at Northwest Rankin Friday night for the second round. They have to win Friday to advance to the championship round. With the addition of 6A to the championship, only the first top two teams from each division will advance to the state round beginning March 3 for 6A.

If Northwest Rankin loses the first round, the games will move to Horn Lake.