BALDWYN — The West Lowndes Panthers pulled away in the second half Thursday to beat Williams-Sullivan 89-70 in the MHSAA Class 2A North State Tournament.
West Lowndes (19-6) held a slim 42-38 halftime lead before outscoring Williams-Sullivan 20-12 in the third quarter and 27-20 in the fourth.
“They played really well,” West Lowndes coach Herman Peters said. “They played well as a team. They played with great effort. It was spread out. It wasn”t like a one-person show.”
West Lowndes was led by Tyquan Lucious with 29 points and 12 rebounds, Demetrius Malone with 16 points and 16 rebounds, Andra Lewis with 15 points, Climmie Hairston with 13 points and Chris Humphreys with eight points.
The Panthers scored the majority of their points by getting up and down the court.
“We got a lot of points in transition,” Peters said. “We only made four 3-pointers and that”s unusual for us.”
The leading scorers for Williams-Sullivan were Desmond Haymon with 28 points and Darius Skinner with 15.
West Lowndes advances to play West Bolivar at 7:30 p.m. today.
n Aberdeen 62, Ripley 60 (B): At Holly Springs, depth came through in a very big way for the Aberdeen Bulldogs on Thursday as they beat Ripley in the MHSAA Class 3A North State Tournament.
Jeffrey Riddle came off the bench to hit two free throws to tie the score and Brandon Smith converted an offensive rebound putback in the waning seconds to lift Aberdeen to the win.
Aberdeen (18-11) will play Cleveland East Side at 7:30 p.m. today for a chance to play for the North Half State title on Saturday night.
Trailing 60-58, Aberdeen”s Rashad Pargo was hurt on a foul. Riddle came off the bench to convert the free throws to tie the game and set up the dramatic ending.
With 6.2 seconds remaining, Mario Lucas stole the inbounds pass and missed a shot. But Smith was in the right spot to rebound the miss and score to help the Bulldogs advance.
Lucas and Fred Ward paced Aberdeen with 15 points.
Acie Vance had 25 points for Ripley (21-8).
n Center Hill 60, Noxubee County 49 (B): At Pontotoc, the Noxubee County Tigers had their season come to an end Thursday with a loss in the MHSAA Class 4A North State Tournament.
The leading scorers for Noxubee County were Daquarius Ballard with a game-high 20 points, Myquell Grace with 10 points and Jacobi Ballard with nine points.
Center Hill was led by Ashaad Stephens with 18 points, Jaquon Mullins with 16 and Brandon Lucas with 11.
n Pickens County 53, Lanett 33 (B): At Montgomery, Ala., the Pickens County Tornadoes claimed the AHSAA Class 2A Central Regional championship Thursday by beating Lanett.
Pickens County advances to play Sand Rock (28-3) at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in the semifinals of the Class 2A State Tournament at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center in Birmingham, Ala.
Pickens County (25-2, which won its seventh game in a row, was led by Deion Curry with game highs of 22 points and 13 rebounds. He was the only player in the game to score in double figures.
Curry was followed by Nick Stewart with nine points and Markeithon Hall with seven.
Nirobi Huguley scored eight points to lead Lanett.
Pickens County led 12-10 at the end of the first quarter, but outscored Lanett 17-6 in the second for a 29-16 halftime lead. The Tornadoes outscored the Panthers 12-6 in the third period and 12-11 in the fourth.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.