By Brad Greer

The North Panola Cougars found themselves in a catfight in a Region 3-3A contest Friday night against homestanding Charleston.

But unlike North Panola’s 55-45 victory in their first meeting of the season, the Cougars would have to stage a fourth quarter rally this time around.

Led by clutch free throw shooting  from Ketawon House and Gerotney Kelson, North Panola outlasted Charleston 54-48 in overtime to remain undefeated in district play at 4-0 and 12-5 overall. The Tigers meanwhile fell to 5-7 and 1-2 in region action.

“This was a big win for our guys. The kids showed a lot of guts out there tonight by coming back the way they did. Charleston is a tough place to win a game, but we found a way to come out on top,” said Cougar head coach Christopher Yancy.

Trailing 32-29 after three quarters of play North Panola tied the game at 36 on a pair of baskets by Kelson and House with 4:32 left in regulation.

After Robert Oliver’s three point play gave the Cougars a 43-39 lead with 1:15 remaining, Charleston scored the next four points including Stephon Grant’s basket with 15 seconds left that sent the game into overtime.

The Tigers had a chance to win the game at the buzzer but Kameron Myers’ layup missed its mark as time expired.

The extra session was all North Panola as the Cougars outscored Charleston 11-5 in the final four minutes.

House knocked down three-of- four free throws while Oliver and JaAnthony Wright added a pair of buckets to give North Panola a 50-44 lead. Kelson then put the icing on the cake with a pair of  free throws to extend the lead to 52-44 with 40 seconds left.

House and Oliver led the Cougar charge with 12 points each while Kelson and Anjayvious Farmer added 10 points. Darrius Jackson added five while Wright chipped in with two points. Quintarius Jones registered one point.

North Panola raced to a 10-4 early advantage and despite a Charleston 7-2 run, led 12-11 after one quarter of play.

The Tigers then took an 18-13 lead midway through the second quarter on a three-pointer and layup  by Rodderius Pittman. Myles then gave the home team its largest lead of the game at 22-15 with a pair of buckets late in the half as Charleston maintained a 26-23 lead at halftime.

Varsity Girls
In varsity girls action, Charleston received 17 points from the team’s leading scorer Aqueshia Kimble to improve to 10-3 and 3-0 in district with a 51-41 win over the Lady Cougars.

North Panola (6-9; 1-3) was led in scoring by Candace Mottley’s 13 points. Sophomore Onesha Hunt followed with 11 points, but was held to only two late fourth quarter free throws.

Daryleshia Ward added eight points while Takymdris Clay garnered five. Teariny Wheatley rounded out the scoring with five points.

Charleston lead 12-10 after the first quarter only to expand the margin to 24-12 with 2:24 left before halftime as Kimble exploded for nine of her 13 first-half points.

After leading 27-18 at intermission, the Lady Tigers expanded their margin to 34-21 early in the third quarter before a pair of three pointers by Clay and Mottley cut the lead to 35-28.

North Panola would get as close as five points at 39-34 with 22 seconds left in the third stanza before Charleston added a late field goal to lead 41-34 heading into the final quarter.

North Panola hosts Marks Palmer at 6 p.m. tonight for the first of four straight home games.