2008

WEEK OF J · ~~:::...,·r--=:0::....:&=--..,.----

EC women head to postseason; i Warriors fall one win short I By Marty Stamper Appeal Sports Editor

''\\c'd ha\'e liked to h:l\C won this last one. but Pearl River played really. really good and shot it a lot better than they did the lir~t time that we played them." Lady \\'amor:-. coach Bill Smith said. "We had an opportunity dO\\n the stretch \\hen w c were do\\ n one to go up one and we just missed a . couple eac;y chip shots under the basket. "You'\e got to gi\c them credit. the} played cxccptionall} \\Cll for them." Pearl Ri\·er led 40-35 gomg into halftime. The Lady Wildcats were up 69-57 with 10:20 remaining. but EC went on a 14-2 run to pull C\'en at 71 on a basket bv Ra:-.hnna Jenkin:.\\ tth 3 36 left. · Pearl River's Laterrica Booth answered with a 3-pointer 15 sec– onds later and the Lady Wildcats maintamed the lead the rest of the contest EC got to within 76-75 on n bas– ket by lancsha BrO\\n with just under a minute left. but Nicole Lowe connected with 24 s..:cond:-. to go and Juanita Easley add..:d two free throws w1th 7. 7 seconds left to ice the win for Pearl River. EC ( 19-5. I 0-4) got 21 pomts from Tawayatha E\ ans. 17 from Jenkins. 16 from BrO\\ n. and 15 from Mystee Dale. Pearl River ( 17 -l>. 8-6) got 19 pomts from Oli\ ia Magee. 18 trom Booth, and 16 each from Shcrrion Thoma~ and Stacia Eady. Pearl River 61 EC men 58 Needing a ''in to clatm a berth in the state tournament, the Wamors were unable to pull oiYthc upset. ·•

freshman forward from Bossier City, La., led EC with 23 points. Former Leake Academy stand– out Allison Phillips scored 18 points. EC also got 12 pomts from Mystee Dale. 11 from Tanesha Brown, and five from Tawayatha Evans. Gulf Coast (7-17, 3-10) got 23 points from Ja'Net ~chon berg, 13 from Keaundra Augustus. and II from Daphia Ulmer. EC men 65 Gulf Coast 62 The Warriors won thctr third– straight contest with the three-point victory over the host Bulldogs. EC unproved to I 1-13 overall and 6-7 in the divis1on wtth the \\:10. The game was ught throughout as the Warriors took a 31-30 lead into halftime. Dcvarus "Scooter" Walker of Newton Cou]lty and Josh Luckett of Carthage: were EC's leadtng scorers \\ tth 14 points each Both arc freshmen. The Warriors also got I0 points from Marquis Wilson, ctght each from Darron Maxtton and Des Morales. and five each from Rod Lofton and Justin Brown. Gulf Coast (14-10, 6-7) got 17 points from Teshawn B)rOn and 12 each from Justm Ray and Luther Suggs. Pearl River 80 EC women 75 The Lady Warriors chased Pearl River most of the night and came up fhe pomts short in their regular– season finale in Decatur last Thursda)'. The loss cost the Lady Warriors a share of first place in the divis10n.

With berths in this week's MACJC State Tournament and next week's NJCAA Region 23 Tournament already wrapped up, the East Central Community College Lady Warriors closed out their regular season with an 80-75 loss to Pearl River Community College Thursday at Decatur. The Lady Warriors concluded the regular season with a 19-5 record. "We've got two more weeks no matter what," Lady Warriors coach Bill Smith said. "We've just got to put this one behind us and regroup and get ready for this week." The Lady Warriors opened the state tournament with I lolmes Community College on Tuesday. That winner will face the ltawamba-Copiah-Lincoln winner tonight at 6 p.m. The finals are slat– ed for 6 p.m. on Thursday. The EC men had to beat Pearl River to continue thetr season and came up short in a 61-58 loss. The Warriors ended their season with an 11-14 record. EC women 73 G ulf Coast 64 The Lady Warriors moved into a first-place tie with Meridtan in the division standings with the Feb. 19 nine-point win at Perkinston. EC improved to 19-4 overall and 10-3 in the division with the win. Gutf Coast fell to 7-17 and 3-1 0. The Lady Warriors carried a slim 33-32 lead into halfbme. but outscored the Lady Bulldogs 40-32 over the final 20 minutes. Rashima Jenkins, a 5-foot-9

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