South Panola basketball wins home-opener against Cleveland

By Brad Greer
If one thing both South Panola girls and boys basketballs learned from their home-opening wins Tuesday over Cleveland, is to play all four quarters.
Despite a dreadfully slow start that saw them get shut out in the first  period, the Lady Tigers clawed their way back over the next three quarters to hold off  Cleveland for a 35-26 victory.
Sydney Morgan led all scorers with 13 points as South Panola improved to 3-1 on the season while the Lady Wildcats evened their record to 1-1.
Both teams combined for 10 turnovers in the first four minutes and never could get their offense on track as Cleveland’s Allena Griffin scored the lone basket while Zakirya Hinton added a free throw for the only points of the quarter.
South Panola finally got on the board  as the second quarter got underway with a three-pointer by Morgan. The Lady Tigers took tje lead later in the quarter at 7-5 on Christy Hubbard’s kiss of the glass.
Both squads traded missed shots and turnovers as Cleveland  converted four free throws to grab a slim 11-10 lead at halftime.
The Wildcats scored the first five points of the second half to extend their margin to 16-10 before South Panola ran off eight straight points behind back-to-back baskets from Marshala Doyle and Morgan’s second trey of the game.
As the quarter came to the end, Doyle’s layup gave South Panola a 22-20 advantage.
The Lady Tigers finally got some breathing room in the fourth quarter  as consecutive steal and lay ups by Morgan and Doyle sparked a 7-0 run to give the home team a 33-22 lead before eventuality hanging on for the victory.
Doyle followed Morgan in scoring with nine points while Hubbard added six. Chole Morgan and Temaye Williams scored four and two points each.  Kaniya Ford rounded out scoring with one point.
The Lady Tigers will be back in action Saturday as they travel to Horn Lake before taking part in the Oxford Lady Charger Challenge Monday and Tuesday.
South Panola takes on Shannon at 1 p.m Monday before squaring off against the host Chargers Tuesday at 4 p.m.
South Panola (boys)-57 Cleveland-54
Kendricus Carlton poured in 28 points as the Tigers fought back from a 36-21 halftime deficit to record their first win of the season. Ernest Sanford added 12 points on four three-pointers as the only other scorer in double figures.
Ketrell Key and Montray Blackburn followed with six points each while Davonte Cathey registered four points but came up with two huge blocks in the third quarter that keyed the Tiger rally. Nick Porter rounded out the scoring with one point.
South Panola (1-1) came out on fire as the second half got underway by out-scoring the Wildcats 22-5 in the third quarter which was spurred by a 15-2 run.
The Tigers grabbed its first lead since the first quarter at 40-39 with 2:41 left in the third on a Carlton basket.
Cleveland retook the lead 49-45 with 4:03 remaining in the game before South Panola made one final push to take the lead for good.
With 2:58 remaining, Carlton reeled off five straight points to give the Tigers a 52-51 advantage. Cathey then came up with a key steal and lay up which led to a three-point play to increse the margin to 55-51.
Cleveland had one last chance to tie the game with eight seconds left following two missed South Panola free throws but could not connect on the three pointer as the horn sounded.
South Panola will be back in action Nov. 28-Dec.1 in the Cleveland tournament.
South Panola (JV girls)- 26 Cleveland-8
Ke’Amber Jackson’s seven points paced South Panola to a season-opening win. Janarria Sanford, Kahlena Hentz and Tadderra Patton each added four points.
Shanterika Burton added three while Ty’Quera Victom and Takyra Webster finished with two points.
South Panola (JV boys)-44 Cleveland-17
Eleven players got into the scoring column as the Tigers eased their way to victory.
Keith Cole and Jerry Hubrins led the way with eight points while Deronte Thomas followed with six. Morris House chipped in with five and Stanwon Porter added four.
JaMichael Ford, Markevious Vaughn, Denver Brown and Detierriye Reed registered two points.