By Angie Ledbetter
The South Panola Lady Tigers basketball team put on a show for the home crowd Tuesday night as they downed Cleveland 73-31 to improve to 2-0.

The Tiger fans got to see new head coach Jemmye Helmes coach her first home game in the South Panola gym and they cheered her on.

It was total domination in the first quarter by the Lady Tigers as they hit the floor scoring 19 points and holding Cleveland to 4. Senior guard Ty’Raveen Collins put up nine while junior guard Jasmine Wright added six. Sophomore guards Sydney Morgan and Breanna Bland contributed two points each.

In the second quarter it was all the Lady Tigers as they outscored the Lady Wildcats by 20 points giving them a 46-11 lead at the half.

Wright led the second quarter with 10 points followed by Collins with nine, Sydney Morgan with five and Tracie Benson with three.

Cleveland was outscored to start the second half when six Lady Tigers hit goals for a total of 18 points and the Lady Wildcats hit two goals and one free throw giving the Lady Tigers a 64-16 lead.

Collins hit three from the two point line and Wright made two. Chloe Morgan, Sydney Morgan, Alexis Smith and Shanterrica Hunt all made one from the two point line to round off the third quarter scoring.

With full control of the game Helmes substituted players in the fourth quarter giving others experience on the court. Cleveland took advantage of that and outscored the Lady Tigers 15-9.
Chloe Morgan knocked down a three from the corner, made one goal and went 0 for 2 from the free throw line. Sydney Morgan and Smith both made one goal giving the Lady Tigers a huge victory on their home court.

Collins summed up the game with 24 points, one rebound and three steals. Wright totaled 20 points, had nine rebounds, four steals and was three of three from the free throw line. Sydney Morgan scored 11 points, had four steals, one assist and was 0 for 1 from the free throw line.
Chloe Morgan put up seven points, had four steals and was 0 for 2 from the free throw line. Smith had four points, one block and eight steals. Benson added three points. Bland scored two points, had three steals and one rebound. Hunt finished the scoring with two points.
Leading the scoring for Cleveland was Kaitlyn Thompson with 24 of the 31 points. She made four of 10 from the free throw line.

The Lady Tigers shot 50 percent from the free throw line and the Lady Wildcats shot 35 percent.
In the first two games Collins and Wright has dominated the stats for South Panola. Collins has scored 50 points and stole the ball 13 times. Wright has put up 31 points, had 19 rebounds, eight steals and four blocks.

SPJV 14, Cleveland 20
The junior varsity team played their first game and lost to Cleveland 20-14. Bland scored five points, Alexis Fondren added five and Benson scored four. They shot 50 percent from the free throw line.

South Panola traveled to Durant last night for their non-conference game.
Tigers 43, Cleveland 54

The South Panola boys’ varsity basketball team dropped to 0-2 after they fell to the Cleveland Wildcats 54-43 Tuesday night in front of their home crowd.

After the first quarter the Tigers were tied with the Wildcats 12-12. Junior forward Kenon Johnson made 3 of 3 field goals. Senior forward Jordan Matthews made one field goal and was 2 of 2 from the free throw line. Junior guard Cameron Brown went 2 of 2 from the free throw line to round off the scoring.

Cleveland took a 24-18 lead in the half after outscoring South Panola 12-6 in the second quarter. Sophomore forward Kentravious McMurry scored four points and sophomore guard Terry Williams added two points. 

The Tigers came out in the third quarter and fought hard to stay in the game with the Wildcats. Having just a six point lead over the Tigers at the half, the Wildcats topped them by three points in the third quarter 19-16 to take a 43-34 lead.

The 16 points in the third quarter was the most scored by the Tigers. McMurry knocked down two 3 pointers and made two goals but missed his one free throw shot to lead the quarter with 10 points. Brown, Johnson and Matthews added a goal each to add to McMurry’s points.  Johnson missed 2 of 2 from the free throw line.

The last quarter of play the Tigers were down by nine. They came out and scored the nine points but the Wildcats put up 11 more points to win the non-conference game.

Recapping the scoring in the last quarter of action, McMurry hit a three pointer, Howard Smothers made a goal, Johnson made a goal but missed his free throw shot and Brown made one goal but missed two from the free throw line.

In his first game McMurry lead the Tigers with 17 points. Johnson followed with 10. Brown and Matthews each scored six points. Williams and Smothers had two points each.

Leading in rebounds was Matthews with 11. Johnson had five, Andrea Gleaton had four, Smothers had three, McMurry had two, Quentavious Poole had two, Brown had one and Kentrell Key had one. Gleaton had one steal.

The Tigers shot 27 percent from the free throw line.

South Panola played on the road last night at Durant and will be back in action December 1-4 at the Clarksdale Tournament.