By Myra Bean

The North Panola Lady Cougars felt like they had been in a fight after falling to the New Albany Lady Bulldogs 84-55 Friday.

The North Panola Lady Cougars had met the New Albany Lady Bulldogs over Christmas and lost by 10 points.

The Lady Cougars (21-9) fell to the Lady Bulldogs in the second round of the playoffs in New Albany. The tournament was delayed due to snow and ice last week.

New Albany (30-0) is the top-ranked team in the state and came out blazing, taking a 23-7 first quarter lead. The Lady Cougars woke up and outscored the Lady bulldogs 20-12 in the second quarter and had cut the lead 35-27 at halftime.

The Lady Cougars were used to second half comebacks for the win. However, New Albany was protecting a win streak and a chance to play at the “Big House.”

Both teams scored 19 points in the third quarter. Going into the fourth quarter, New Albany maintained a 54-46 lead.

The Lady Bulldogs turned up the jets again in the fourth quarter, pulling away to outscore the Lady Cougars 30-9 for the 30 point win.

Failure to contain Lady Bulldogs Misha Washington and Jazmine Spears along with Lady Cougar foul trouble were factors in the late game surge.

Senior and Mississippi State signee Jenisha “Shaq” Jackson had fouled out by the fourth quarter. She had two fouls in the first 30 seconds of the first quarter.

Seniors Brittany Patton and Catonya Newsom sported four fouls each.

“We couldn’t touch them but they were very physical with us,” said Lady Cougar head coach Chris Yancy.

Leading scorers for the Lady Cougars were Catonya Newsome 19 points and Brittany Patton 13. Other scorers for the Lady Cougars include Audrey Taylor, 6; Cearea Jackson, 3; Jenisha Jackson and Angelica Davidson, 2 points each.

New Albany’s Micha Washington was the leading scorer with 31 points.

New Albany went on to defeat Pontotoc 49-35 Saturday night to set up last night’s north half championship game with Lafayette County. Lafayette County took out Cleveland last Wednesday in the first round. Then Friday, Lafayette County took out Amory.

The Lady Commodores had a hard task taking out 3-4A champion Humphreys County Saturday night 69-62.