2008

BIG GUN East Centr~l C?mm.unity College's Mystee Dale gets cut off by Jtawamba defenders during Region 23 tour– nament act1on 1n Clinton Wednesday. Dale scored 24 points in the Lady Warriors' victory. East Central ladies move into tourney finals By Rocky Higginbotham sports editor East Central Community College didn't neces– sarily play its best basketball during the second half. Freshman guard Mystee Dale of ChoctawCentral poured in a game-high 24 points to lead East Central while former Newton standout Tawayath~

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Evans and Rashima Jenkins were in double figures with 13 points each. Courtney Cannon led Itawamba with 20 points. ECCC will now square off against the very same Holmes squad which beat the Lady Warriors 74-69 in their state tournament opener last week in Fulton. The Cinderella Lady Bulldogs, who now stand 14-13, opened the Region 23 tourney with an overtime, buzzer-beating win and then surprised Copiah-Lincoln 67-64 in the semifinals Wednesday. It's the fourth meeting of the season for ECCC and Holmes - the Lady Warriors won the previous two by double digits - and the winner advances to the NJCAA national tourney which begins March 18 in Salina, Kansas.

month of February, when the Lady Warriors suffered four of their six losses after a 16-2 start. But with one more win today, coach Bill Smith's squad will be headed to the NJCM National Championship Tournament. East Central posted 5J points in the second half Wednesday aft~rnoon, pulling away from ltawamba to beat the Lady Indians 75-59 in the semifinals of the NJCM Region 23 Tournament. The win lifted East Central to 21-6 overall and moved them into today's championship game against Holmes. Itawamba, which won the MACJC state championship last week, finished 21-9. ECCC managed just a 24-21 lead at halftime Wednesday at Mississippi College's A.E. Wood Coli– seum in Clinton, but quickly took control in the