MCCOMB – If the two games played at the McComb Gymnasium Tuesdaynight were any indication, the Division 6-4A girls and boysbasketball races should go down to the wire. The Brookhaven boysand Crystal Springs are considered by some of the division coachesas the early favorites but don’t count out McComb or LawrenceCounty on either side.

The two schools met in a non-division matchup last night. Thehome-standing Lady Tigers, ranked No. 11 in the C-L preseason poll,pulled out a 47-35 win over the Lawrence County Lady Cougars. TheMcComb Tigers were not as fortunate, dropping a tough 58-50 loss tothe Lawrence County Cougars.

The designated division game will be played at Lawrence Countyon Jan. 30.

McComb defeated Lawrence County 48-22 in the preliminary JVgirls game.

Lawrence County returns to action, after the Thanksgivingholidays, on Dec. 1, hosting Jefferson County. The JV boys gamebegins at 4:45 p.m., followed by the varsity girls at 6. Thevarsity boys start at 7:30.

McComb 47, Lawrence County 35

The Lady Cougars (4-3), coached by Archie Ross, gave McComb allthey could handle in the opening 8 minutes. Lawrence Countyauthored a 9-2 lead, before the Lady Tigers made a late surge, topull within 1 point, 9-8, entering the second period.

McComb (7-1) would battle back and gain their first lead of thenight, 12-11, on an offensive putback by senior Dandy Dozen playerSheree Thompson with 6:14 left in the first half. The Lady Tigerswould slowly start to pull away and lead 22-15 at theintermission.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well tonight,” said Ross following thegame.

Thompson got the hot hand in the second half. She scored 14 ofher game-high 17 points for the Lady Tigers.

That was evident in the third quarter as Lawrence County couldnot buy a basket. The Lady Cougars found themselves down 33-22entering the final period.

Ross’ ballclub pulled to within 8 points in the period, 32-24,on a basket by Andrella Pierre. That would be as close as the LadyCougars could get.

McComb, coached by Carolyn Whitehead, got support from MeMePerkins and Shonda Martin with 7 points apiece.

Lawrence County was led by Tammy Feazelle and Rhonda Warner with6 points.

Lawrence County 58, McComb 50

Lawrence County (6-1) sent a message to their division opponentsthat it will not be a 1-team race. The Cougars came out smoking tolead 21-14 after one period of play. Tim Horton (7 points) and NickMikell (9 points) were the catalyst for Cougar head coach BobbyLee. Mikell’s points came on 3 consecutive treys midway through theperiod.

McComb, coached by Hilton Harrell, would not go away easily. TheTigers were down 33-30 going into the halftime locker room.

The Tigers clawed their way back into the game in the third.With 1:10 left in the period, Jackie Butler, a 6-foot-9 sophomorecenter, nailed a short jump hook to give McComb a 42-41 lead.Harrell’s team took a 44-41 lead into the final stanza. It was theTiger’s first lead, since having a 2-0 advantage early in thegame.

Butler led McComb with 15 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists and 4steals.

Lawrence County tied the game at 46-46 on a 3-point basket byMikell. The Cougars would retake the lead for good at 49-46 onanother trey by Mikell, following a Cougar timeout with 6:15 leftin the game.

The Cougars had opportunities to put this game away but theirinability to convert from the charity stripe kept the margin ofvictory at 8 points.

Lawrence County got 9 rebounds from Horton. Jerry Sims had 4assists. Mikell had 3 steals.

In the JV game, Ryshanna Johnson paced McComb with 10 points.Isha Toney led Lawrence County with 8.