An early season preview of Division 6-4A basketball occurredWednesday afternoon in Sinclair Gym as rivals McComb and LawrenceCounty met in a non-division battle in the Brookhaven InvitationalTournament. The green-and-gold clad Tigers swept a pair fromLawrence County in Sinclair Gym.

The Lady Tigers fought from an 11-point deficit to beat the LadyCougars 54-49. The Tigers held off a furious Cougar rally for a52-49 win in spite of a 24-point cushion by McComb.

McComb advances to the semifinals tonight against Hinds AHS. Thegirls game tips off at 4 p.m. followed by the boys game at5:30.

McComb 54, Lawrence Co. 49

Lawrence County (2-4) trailed 13-12 at the end of the firstquarter. The Lady Cougars held McComb to 3 second quarter points asLCHS carried a 27-16 lead into the halftime locker room. RoneshaGarner and Cande’l May (3 treys) combined for 15 points in thesecond quarter.

McComb, coached by Carolyn Whitehead, turned up the defensivepressure in the second half. Jackie White and Stacy Morris combinedfor 15 third-quarter points as the Lady Tigers trailed 36-35entering the final frame.

Whitehead’s ballclub claimed the lead for good, 50-49, on abasket by Mia Stevenson with 38 seconds left in the game.

Morris led the Lady Tigers with 18 points, followed by Whitewith 14.

Garner led all scorers with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.May finished with 14 points (4 treys), 5 rebounds and 3 assists.Jasmine Courtney and Tiara Buckley each had 6 rebounds.

McComb 52, Lawrence Co. 49

The Tigers (6-0) appeared on the verge of blowing LawrenceCounty out as head coach Hilton Harrell’s squad authored an 18-9lead at the end of the first stanza. McComb used a balanced scoringattack to aid in their cause.

Lawrence Co. (5-1) could not find any offensive consistency asthey led 35-18 at the intermission.

Both teams slowed down in the third but McComb still had an18-point lead, 42-24, entering the fourth frame. LCHS trailed by asmany as 24 points in the third.

The Cougars came to life behind the scoring of Craig Tyler,David Clark and Ray Collins. Tyler scored all 10 of his points inthe fourth, while Collins (2 treys) and Clark (7 points) nearlybrought LCHS back to win.

Clark, who is averaging nearly 29 points a game, had a game-high17 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Tyler had 7 rebounds.Dominique West had 2 steals.

Eric Mitchell led McComb with 15 points, followed by DemarionAddison with 11.