Girls roundups: Willard, Cathedral get win

Published 12:01 am Wednesday, February 6, 2013

PINEY WOODS — Sarah Beth Willard scored 12 of her game-high 26 points in the second quarter as the Cathedral Lady Green Wave defeated the Piney Woods Lady Tornadoes 61-47 Tuesday night in MHSAA Region 7-1A action.

Piney Woods’ duo of Raven Thompson, who had 20 points, and Kiwanda Kelly kept the Lady Tornadoes in the game in the first three quarters. But Cathedral’s defense forced some turnovers and that allowed the Lady Green Wave to push a 47-38 lead at the end of three quarters into double digits in the fourth quarter.

The Lady Green Wave ended up outscoring the Lady Tornadoes 14-9 in the final eight minutes.

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“We played the triangle-and-1 again, but they played better. Raven was shooting and rebounding in the first half. In the second half, we kind of kept her from doing that,” Cathedral head coach Randy Smith said. “Kiwanda scored most of her 20 points in the first three quarters. It was close until the fourth quarter. Lots of scoring and lots of good defense.”

Smith said getting the ball into the hands of Willard, Kennedy Gray, Wesley Calloway and Akua Kumi was also a big factor. Gray finished with 11 points, Calloway poured in nine points and Kumi finished with eight points for the Lady Green Wave, which clinched third place in Region 7-1A.

Cathedral (10-13, 5-4) finishes its regular season Friday night at Bogue Chitto.

Marksville 50, Vidalia 19

MARKSVILLE, La. — Marksville’s swarming defense held Vidalia to just six points in the entire first half as the Lady Tigers rolled to a 31-point win over the Lady Vikings in an LHSAA District 3-3A game Tuesday night.

The first quarter couldn’t have been any worse for the Lady Vikings as they were held scoreless in the first quarter and trailed Marksville 16-0. Vidalia finally got on the board in the second quarter, but it didn’t do anything to slow down the Lady Tigers as they ended up with a 20-6 advantage and went into halftime with a comfortable 36-6 lead.

Vidalia ended up with just four players reaching the scoring column. The Lady Vikings were led by Fran Duson with seven points and Shermel Bell with six points.

Vidalia (0-9 in district) plays host to Avoyelles for Senior Night this Friday night.

Wilkinson County 57, Jefferson County 53

FAYETTE — After getting off to a surprisingly slow start, the Wilkinson County Lady Wildcats came back strong as they defeated the Jefferson County Lady Tigers Tuesday night in an MHSAA Region 7-3A game.

Jefferson County played good defense in the opening quarter that allowed the Lady Tigers to take a 13-6 lead over Wilkinson County at the end of the quarter. Even though the Lady Wildcats scored 18 points in the second quarter, they still trailed the Lady Tigers 32-24 at halftime. Jefferson County was led by Brandy Buck with 23 points.

The third quarter was when the momentum swung to Wilkinson County. Led by Linensia Palmer, the Lady Wildcats outscored Jefferson County 17-7 to go ahead 41-39. Wilkinson County held on by outscoring the Lady Tigers 16-14 in the fourth quarter. Palmer led all scorers with 33 points.

Wilkinson County (12-14, 7-2) plays at Prentiss Friday night. Jefferson County (records not available) plays at Franklin County Friday night.