By Myra Bean

After Tuesday’s loss to Rosa Fort the North Panola Cougars ended the regular season on a high note with a 67-44 win over Independence Friday night.

The Cougars jumped to a 20-12 first quarter lead and led 30-17 at halfitme. The Cougars pushed the lead to 20 going into the final quarter, 50-30 and finished off the Wildcats in high fashion.

With 10-13 overall and 5-7 district records, the Cougars were fifth in the district and will play Senatobia, the number four team, in the district tournament tonight at 5 p.m. The 3-3A district tournament, which began last night, is being played at Rosa Fort in Tunica instead of at Northwest as in the past.

The winner of this game will face Rosa Fort at 8:30 p.m. Thursday. The consolation game will be played at 5:30 p.m. Friday. The championship is set for 8:30 Friday night.

The 2008 3-3A District Champions, the North Panola Lady Cougars (14-10 overall, 6-5 district), found themselves in third place in District 3-3A as they fell to Independence 60-57 Friday night. Rosa Fort and Senatobia lead the district.

North Panola led 28-20 at the half, but the Lady Wildcats were hard to contain as they battled back for the lead and the win.

The Lady Cougars played Byhalia last night in the district tournament, but the score was not available at press time. The winner of that game will face the winner of the Senatobia/Lewisburg game at 4 p.m. Thursday.

The consolation game will be played at 4 p.m. Friday. The championship will be played at 7 p.m. North Panola sneaked in and won the district championship last year.