By Angie Ledbetter

The South Panola Lady Tigers lost their first home game of the season Thursday night, falling to Cleveland 58-56.

The Lady Tigers jumped to a 21-4 lead after one quarter. Feeling confident going into the second quarter, the Lady Tigers found themselves in foul trouble. Senior point guard Christa Brown and younger sister Chresha Brown both picked up four fouls in the first half, along with freshman guard Ty’Raveen Collins who had three.   

After Lady Tiger head coach Ralph Stallings had to pull Christa Brown, Cleveland went on a 20-4 run to cut the Lady Tigers lead 30-26 at the half.

Christa Brown returned to the game in the third quarter scoring six points but senior Crystal Contreras  had also picked up three fouls.

Cleveland outscored the Lady Tigers in the third quarter 18-16 to cut the lead to two, 46-44.

With 6:18 left in the game Christa Brown picked up her fifth foul  with the Lady Tigers trailing 47-46. The Lady Tigers were down 54-52 when Chresha Brown picked up her fifth and left the game with 1:47 remaining.

Eleven seconds later Contreras went to the bench after fouling out and Cleveland had a 55-52 lead. The last two Lady Tiger points were scored by Brittany Baker but Cleveland held on to win.

Christa Brown led with 20 points and three rebounds followed by Contreras with 15 points and six rebounds.

Friday night the Lady Tigers defeated Water Valley 67-47.

Water Valley jumped to a 23-11 lead in the first quarter.

The Lady Tigers rallied in the second quarter to cut the lead 32-29 at the half.  

The Lady Tigers dominated the second half adding 16 in the third and 22 in the fourth while holding Water Valley to only 16 total in the second half.

Christa Brown scored 33 points, two assists, five steals, three rebounds and went seven of nine from the free throw line.

Chresha Brown contributed 16 points and had four steals. Other scorers include Collins, eight points; Contreras, three; and Raven Brown, one.

The Lady Tigers shot 73 percent from the free throw line while Water Valley was 58 percent.

The Lady Tigers will host Horn Lake tonight for the last game of the year. They will start district action January 6 when they host Grenada.