AMORY – Everything flowed nicely for the Noxubee County girls basketball team Thursday afternoon.
A dominant offensive performance for the Tigers helped them take a 51-29 win over Amory, propelling them to another shot at competing in the MHSAA Class 3A, Region 4 championship game.
“We basically wanted to spread the floor out, get good, open looks and make them play defense,” Noxubee coach Micheal Johnson said. “All of our girls are like a piece to a puzzle. Tootie (Lockett) isn’t just our only piece, and when everyone is being aggressive and looking to score, that makes it hard for the other team.”
Noxubee County jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the first after baskets from Kirsten Barnett, Lockett, Zachariah Averett and Takyra Smith. Jamaya Dancy put the Lady Tigers up 10-3 to end the quarter with a layup.
The Tigers continued to roll in the second half, extending their lead to 17-5 after a 3-pointer from Dancy. A 17-2 run with multiple baskets from Lockett pushed Noxubee’s lead to 34-9 before a three-pointer from Jolie Kate Cox sent Amory into the half down 34-12.
A 10-0 run capped off with a three-pointer by ShaDiamin Wilkerson helped Noxubee take a 30-point lead and forced Amory to call a timeout with 5:29 remaining in the third. The Lady Panthers only scored two points in the third as Barnett increased Noxubee’s lead to 48-14 going into the fourth.
The Lady Panthers outscored Noxubee 15-3 in the fourth, but the Lady Tigers still managed to walk away with the big win.
Lockett finished with a game-high 19 points in the win.
(B) Amory 65, Noxubee 55: A back-and-forth first half saw the Amory boys gain some momentum late, and they closed the door on Noxubee’s comeback attempt in the fourth with a 65-55 win.
After trailing 18-11 in the first and 28-18 at the half, Noxubee stormed back and outscored Amory 21-15 in the third to cut the score to 44-39 after a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by AJ Little.
Baskets from Omari Glenn and Little helped the Tigers cut the score to as low as four points in the fourth, but Amory closed things out with a 9-3 run to seal the win. Little finished with a game-high 25 points, while Glenn added 10 points in the loss.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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