Trinity girls down HHS; WC gets win

Published 12:00 am Saturday, December 31, 2005

NATCHEZ &8212; The funny thing is there really hasn&8217;t been a lull on defense.

Sure, shots don&8217;t go sometimes and turnovers just have a way of happening, but Trinity&8217;s Lady Saints kept with the defensive pressure another night out to take a 58-22 win over Huntington to complete the season sweep.

It&8217;s the third straight win for the Lady Saints (5-1), who have won three straight since a loss at Tensas Academy heading into today&8217;s District 4-AA showdown with Silliman Institute.

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&8220;We talk about that and harp and harp about our defense,&8221; TE head coach Melanie Hall said. &8220;We&8217;ve told them since they were in seventh grade &8212; layups, free throws and defense, if you can do those things, you can compete. That was a hard loss for them. Our girls, especially our seniors, really wanted that game badly. Tensas is a good group of kids, and we fell short to them.&8221;

It may have increased the team&8217;s focus a bit as the Lady Saints played well for four quarters defensively against a cold-shooting Huntington team. The Lady Hounds didn&8217;t get many second shots, and Trinity used a stretch during the second and third quarters to put the game away.

After a bucket at the 6:39 mark, the Lady Hounds scored only once the rest of the second quarter and didn&8217;t score again until Leslie Wagoner hit a 3-pointer at the 3:47 mark in the third.

By that time the score went form 16-5 to 35-10. Mallory Archer answered Wagoner&8217;s bucket with one of her own off a steal to put the lead at 27.

Archer finished with 18 points.

&8220;Silliman is a much-improved team,&8221; Hall said. &8220;They had a lot of sophomores last year, and they&8217;re playing a lot to their strengths &8212; quickness and speed. We&8217;re looking forward to the challenge.&8221;

Wilkinson 45, Tylertown 37

WOODVILLE &8212; Tylertown&8217;s defense did a good job of holding Kim Griffin in check, but they had no answer for Toni Anthony and Erica Lewis, who combined for 35 points in the Lady Wildcats&8217; win over the Lady Chiefs in a Region 7-3A matchup.

Griffin was held to just four points in the game, but Anthony led the way for Wilkinson County (6-5, 1-1) with a game-high 21 points and Lewis had 14 points.

The Lady Wildcats led by just three points, 30-27, at the end of the third quarter.

Yazoo County 66, Jefferson 50

YAZOO CITY &8212; Deanna Allen scored a game-high 21 points for Yazoo County, which jumped out to a 21-10 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back in this Region 6-3A game.

The Lady Panthers (8-5, 1-1) also got 15 points from Alysha Barnes and 13 points from Louise Collins. Stacy Thomas led the Tigerettes (4-5, 0-1) with 19 points and Vantessa Williams had 15 points.

Jefferson County wasn&8217;t able to get into any offensive rhythm until the second half, but its defense couldn&8217;t stop Yazoo County enough to get a big rally going when the Tigerettes needed one.

Forest Hill 55, Natchez High 49

JACKSON &8212; Just when it looked like the Lady Bulldogs were on their way to a big win in an early key Division 6-5A game, the fourth quarter did them in as they scored just nine points.

Another key factor in Forest Hill&8217;s win was a 19-13 advantage in the second quarter that gave the Lady Bearcats a 33-28 halftime lead.

Keidra Chatman led Natchez High (4-4, 1-1) with 18 points and Alia Franks had 10 points. Lauren Narrow had 11 points to lead Forest Hill (6-6, 1-0).

Ferriday 52, Vidalia 37

JONESVILLE &8212; The Lady Vikings kept the game close during the first quarter, but a 22-9 advantage in the second quarter allowed the Lady Trojans to take control.

Vidalia did manage to outscore Ferriday 17-13 in the fourth quarter, but by then the outcome was well in hand.

Tiffany Chatman led Ferriday (8-1) with a game-high 16 points and Jasmine Upchurch had 10 points. Vidalia (0-9) was led by Kim Yearby with 14 points.

Menard 43, Monterey 31

HARRISONBURG, La. &8212; After a low-scoring first quarter, the Lady Eagles did not play like a team that had won just two of their first eight game as the outscored the Lady Wolves by a combined 28-14 over the next two quarters.

The stunning win by the Lady Eagles (3-6) allowed them to advance to play Harrisonburg at 2:30 p.m. today in the semifinals of the Harrisonburg Tournament, while the Lady Wolves (11-4) were eliminated.

Casey Valee led Menard with 11 points and Courtney England had 10 points. Shaneika Finley led Monterey with eight points.

Franklin County 56, Columbia 54

COLUMBIA &8212; The Lady Bulldogs (4-0, 2-0) held on to defeat the Lady Wildcats (6-4, 0-1) in a Region 7-3A game. No other information was available as of press time.

WCCA 30, Ben&8217;s Ford 28

WOODVILLE &8212; The Lady Rams stayed hot in District 6-A play with another win thanks to a solid effort in the fourth quarter.

WCCA trailed 23-17 after three but outscored the Lady Eagles 13-5 in the fourth.