Cougars advance to second round

By Ike House
The Cougars had a first round game against Water Valley winning 77-38, Tuesday night while the Lady Cougars had a first round bye in the district tournament.
The Cougars were favorites to win since they had beaten the Blue Devils twice this season. This time around things were a little bit different since Water Valley only had six players to put on the floor due to sickness for the rest of the team.
The low number of players showed for the Blue Devils as the Cougars were able to dominate the game with a 77-38 victory. Things got rough in the first quarter for the Blue Devils, as North Panola outcscored them 19-9.
The Cougars were led by their two big men who had led them all season, Mario Fenner and Jamarcus Jones both with six each. In the next quarter, the Cougars did not score as much but they were still in control with a 16 point outing. They held the Blue Devils to 10 points. The second quarter brought about the emergence of their leading scorer for the night in Zantavious Phillips. He had six points and coming off the bench.
Jones miss the second half of the game with a cut to the elbow but the Cougars were up by 16 points and never looked back. Coming out of the half the Cougars were consistent in scoring with 16 points in the third. Phillips led the Cougars getting three and-one calls in the quarter. He finished the quarter out with 11 points.
Water Valley went on to score just eight points in the quarter with one player scoring five of those points. In the fourth quarter the Cougars had their best quarter of the night scoring wise with 24 points but what was even more amazing for the Cougars they did it with three sophomores, a freshman and an eighth grader.
The top two performers of the quarter were Ankerrion Gross, a sophomore with nine points and Cedquavious Hunter, an eighth grader with five points. The Cougars were also able to knock down four three pointers in the quarter. The Cougars showed that their future is bright with their young talent.
The Cougars also held the Blue Devils to only 10 points. .
Leading the Cougars was Phillips with 17 points. Other scorers were Gross, 11; Fenner, 10; Jones, nine; Montae Smith, Hunter and Kenneth Jefferson, all with five points each and Sylvonta Oliver and Herbert Thomas with two points each.
The top two seeds from the district tournament will host Monday for the girls and Tuesday for the boys. The bottom two seeds will be traveling Monday and Tuesday.