Lady Tigers win in thriller to Falcons while boys fall

By Brad Greer
Overall records can be pretty much thrown out the window when district play starts.
Heading into Friday’s district opener at Columbus, the South Panola Lady Tigers sported a 4-8 record but left with an exciting 48-47 win over the Lady Falcons.
With South Panola clinging to a 46-43 lead, Kaniya Ford’s key basket to make it a two possession game with under a minute remaining. Columbus made things interesting as Hannah White swished a three-pointer to close the margin to 48-47 with 12.2 seconds left.
That would be as close as Columbus would get as following a timeout, South Panola inbounded the ball and ran out the final seconds.
Chole Morgan paced the Lady Tigers with 17 points including 10 in the fourth quarter. Marshala Doyle finished with 16 points.
Columbus (9-4; 0-1) led 35-30 after three quarters only to have South Panola claw its way back with a 8-0 run to start the final stanza.
South Panola tied the game at 35-35 on a Doyle layup before Morgan converted a three-point play to give the Tigers a 38-35 lead at the 5:48 mark.
The Lady Falcons closed the margin to one point twice but could not find the key defensive stop down the stretch as Morgan and Doyle came up with key baskets in the final minutes.
South Panola (5-8; 1-0) came out smoking by connecting on their first four shots to grab an 8-0 lead in the early stages. The Lady Tigers led 20-8 to start the second quarter before Columbus blitzed South Panola with a 16-0 run, to lead 24-20, with 2:08 left in the half. Morgan’s three-pointer at the buzzer halted the Falcon barrage as the home team took a 25-23 lead at intermission.
South Panola shot 54 percent (18-33) from the floor and 10-of-21 at the free throw line. Columbus hurt themselves at the charity stripe, converting on 15-of-34 shots at the line.
Takyra Webster accounted for six points while Ford added four. Gracie Holloway finished with three points and Chrystal Mayes garnered two points.
Columbus (boys)-63
South Panola-45
Columbus blew open a close game at halftime with a 19-3 third quarter barrage to take the district opener.
Dandy Dozen and Mississippi State signee Robert Woodard collected 26 points as the Falcons improved to 11-5 on the season. South Panola fell to 5-5.
Columbus jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game and led 21-11 after one quarter of play as Woodard and Denijay Harris combined for 16 points.
Kendricus Carlton kept South Panola within reach with 11 first half points including a buzzer beating trey to end the half as the Falcons took a 32-27 advantage into halftime.
The third quarter was all Falcons as a trapping defense turned into turnovers and easy baskets for Columbus. South Panola’s lone points came on a Deronte Thomas three pointer.
Thomas and Morris House garnered eight points each for the Tigers. Shaquille Jackson contributed with six while Nick Porter and Keith Cole tallied four points each. Devonte Cathey rounded out the scoring with two points.
South Panola hosts Tupelo today at 4 p.m in a district matchup.