Boys complete sweep with 55-44 win

By Brad Greer

Every team would like to build some momentum heading into post-season play and right now it seems the North Panola Lady Cougars have found extra steam.

Winners of five of its last six games, North Panola found themselves trailing the Northside Gators 30-22 at halftime in a non-district matchup Saturday in Sardis.

Led by the senior duo of Shan Clark and Jasmine Mays, the Cougars outscored Northside 33-18 in the second half to come away with a 55-48 victory.

North Panola improved to 7-12 overall and coupled with a 66-30 rout of M.S. Palmer Friday, evened their district record to 4-4.

The Cougars hosted Water Valley last night and will entertain Coldwater, weather permitting, tonight at 6 p.m on Senior Night.

Clark led all scorers with 19 points, 14 of those in the second half as Mays contributed 17.

After a turnover-plagued first half which saw each team turn the ball over 15 times, North Panola went on a 8-0 run to start the third quarter on the strength of Ania Taylor’s three-pointer and five straight points by Clark. That run pulled the Cougars within two at 32-30 at the 6:32 mark.

Northside would regroup and fight off the charge to extend its margin to 48-41 with 5:12 remaining in the game.

That would by the final points the Gators would score as Clark took over the game and reeled off eight consecutive points to give the Cougars a 49-48 lead with 3:31 remaining.

North Panola iced the game on Caterria Hunt’s layup up in the final minute. Shanique Burnette tallied eight points while Sherry Connor provided six.

Clark led the Lady Cougars with 23 points in the rout of Palmer. Mays added 15 while Johneicya Wilson chipped in with eight. Shakevia Loveberry added seven while Connor provided five. Erannia Goings and Taylor finished with two and one point.

Varsity Boys

NP 55, Northside 44

North Panola rebounded from a district loss to Palmer Friday with a 55-44 win over the Gators in the nightcap.

The Cougars (11-7) took a slim 23-22 lead at intermission, but a strong defensive effort proved to be the difference maker as North Panola held the Gators to five field goals in the second half.

Cedquavious Hunter led all scorers with 18 points while Mario Fenner, Jr., and Ankerion Gross followed with 12 and 11 points.

North Panola grabbed a slim 11-9 lead after one quarter of play despite connecting on two field goals. The Gators took its only lead of the night at 22-21 midway through the second quarter before Javon Williams cleaned up a Hunter missed shot at the buzzer to give the home team a 23-22 margin at the break.

The Cougars gradually began to pull away from the visitors from Shelby in the second half as Gross nailed a trey to give North Panola its largest lead of the game at 38-27.

North Panola maintained its double digit lead as Gross put an exclamation point on the game with steal and break away jam for a 55-41 cushion.

“I feel our guys came out and played well after losing to Palmer last night. We had a team meeting today and talked about some things we needed to work on and they responded well,” said Cougar head coach Chris Yancy.

Roydarious Jackson provided five points while Kevon Nunley added four in the victory. Demartius Wright chipped in the three points while Williams contributed with two points.

Cutline:  North Panola’s Mario Fenner, Jr., soars for two of his 12 points against Northside. (Glennie Pou)