HATTIESBURG — The Starkville High School boys basketball team have ended the 2009 portion of its schedule undefeated.
The Yellow Jackets put the finishing touches with a sweep of three games at the Hattiesburg Holiday Classic with a 77-49 victory against Oak Grove High Wednesday afternoon at Watkins Gymnasium.
Starkville (13-0) built a 21-9 lead after the first quarter and extended it to 39-21 at halftime.
Southern Mississippi signee Rashad Perkins just missed his second-straight double-double for the Yellow Jackets with 19 points and nine rebounds. He had 21 points and 13 rebounds Tuesday night in a 73-63 win against Hattiesburg.
Also for Starkville, Edward Townsel had 13 points, six assists and five rebounds. Jacolby Mobley added 12 points and Gavin Ware and Shaquille Hill contributed nine points each.
n Starkville 67, Natchez 58 (G): The Lady Yellow Jackets completed a sweep of their action at the Hattiesburg Holiday Classic.
After taking a 16-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, Starkville (12-1) extended the margin to 30-21 at half.
Shay Bonner led the Lady Yellow Jackets with 19 points, while Kala Williams and Courtney Moore added 13 points each.
n New Hope 61, Brandon 60 (G): At Northwest Rankin, Rachel Hollivay scored all of her 13 points in the second half, including what proved to be the game-winner in the final minute, to help the Lady Trojans (9-5) rally in the final game at the Northwest Rankin Classic.
New Hope trailed by double figures for much of the second half before outscoring Brandon 19-6 in the fourth quarter.
Kelli Petty paced the Lady Trojans with 24 points, while D.J. Sanders had 12 and Gabby Murray, who also had a key bucket late in the game, had 10.
New Hope plays at Saltillo on Tuesday.
In the boys game, New Hope defeated Clinton 49-36.
n Starkville Academy 41, Desoto Central 34: At Senatobia, the Lady Volunteers were successful against public school competition.
Starkville Academy (13-8) established an 18-7 advantage after the first quarter and were ahead 23-20 at halftime.
After seeing Desoto Central tie the game at 30-30 to end the third, the Lady Volunteers out-scored their opponent 11-4 in the final quarter.
Starkville Academy won the game without freshman guard Tiffany Huddleston, who hurt her wrist after Tuesday”s game against Lewisburg (Tenn.) High School.
Seniors Maggie Gladney, Kylie Lockhart, and Anne Claire Craig made up the difference by combining for 25 points. Gladney had 13 points and five rebounds, while Mary Austin Barber added 10 points, four rebounds and five steals. Anna Prestridge contributed six points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
n North Delta Academy 60, Starkville Academy 40 (B): The Volunteers were in striking distance, trailing 21-17 at halftime.
Then came the third quarter.
Starkville Academy (1-17) was outscored 21-9 in the third quarter to the disappointment of coach Clay Stringer.
“We gave up a fast-break bucket to go down by four at halftime,” Stringer said. “In the third quarter, we came out and lost our composure. We turned it over way too much, gave up too many fastbreak points and before you know it, (their lead) went from four (points) to about 16.”
J.R. Gerhart led the Volunteers with 20 points and pulled down four rebounds, while Adam Crittenden added 14 points and seven rebounds.
n Immanuel Christian 40, Kirk Academy 37 (B): At Marks, Ross Moore scored 16 points Thursday to help the Rams beat Kirk Academy in the Delta Academy Tournament.
Wade Lee scored 12 points and Justin James grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked seven shots for Immanuel (9-7). Moore was chosen to the all-tournament team.
Immanuel”s next game is a week from today at Starkville Christian.
n Fayette County 50, Pickens County 42 (G): At Fayette, Ala., Mary Auna Sterling scored 17 points and Miriah Gooden scored 13, but their production wasn”t enough for the Lady Tornadoes in the Fayette Lions Club Tournament.
Pickens County (4-4) fell behind 11-7 after the first quarter and trailed 29-13 at halftime and 39-27 at the end of the third period.
The next game for Pickens County is Tuesday at home against Bibb County.
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