NP Lady Cougars eliminated in playoffs

By Ike House

The North Panola Lady Cougars saw their season come to an end Friday night after being defeated at the hands of the no. 1 seed Belmont Cardinals.

Belmont 57, Lady Cougars 47

The Lady Cougars were flat when they came out allowing the Cardinals to come out and score 12 unanswered points before Jasmine Mays scored on a contested three-pointer.

Mays was the lone scorer for the Lady Cougars as she hit another big three-pointer to keep them some what in the game after falling behind 18-6 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Lady Cougars came out with much more energy as more players got on the score board. Shan Clark hit an unexpected three-pointer that brought the Lady Cougar bench to life and got the fans into the game.

The Lady Cougars ended the quarter with 14 points after they held the Cardinals to 11 points.

What hurt the Lady Cougars in the first half were wide open lay ups they gave their opponent.

They also  gave up 17 points to one player. With Monique Burnette being in foul trouble, the Lady Cougars were on the short end when it came to gaurding the tallest girl on the floor.

Coming out the half the Lady Cougars took the fight to the Lady Cardinals after being down at the half 29-20.

The Lady Cougars pushed the ball and shot better and pulled within two points, 29-27. They fought all the way back to a tight game but they could never overcome the deficit.

They did manage to outscore their opponent in the quarter 11-9. They went in the fourth down by eight. They were trying to catch up but with key players in foul trouble that turned out to be a big task.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Cougars could not be stopped on the offensive end hitting bucket after bucket from the free throw line. Unfortunately, the Cardinals did the same with one player sinking six of seven free throws.

Both teams had a player foul out with the Cardinals only losing a bench player and the Lady Cougars losing star point gaurd Kenya Edwards in the last two minutes of the game.

That made a big difference in their guard play as they had pulled within six.

The Lady Cougars scored 17 points in the quarter but so did the Lady Cardinals. The Lady Cougars were eliminated from the second round of the playoffs after finishing with a 17-6 regular season record, a nine-game win streak going in the district tournament and finishing as runner-ups in the district.

Leading the Lady Cougars was Mays with 13 points.

Other scorers include Clark, 10; Burnette, eight; Edwards, seven; QuiTonya Webster, five; Amani Howard, four and Johnieycia Wilson, one.