Wesson whips St. Joe
Published 6:00 am Tuesday, December 21, 2004
WESSON — The Wesson Cobras had four players in double figuresFriday night as they put together a key 84-71 win over the MadisonSt. Joseph Bruins in Region 6-2A basketball action.
Powering the Cobras (7-5, 1-1) with a game-high 25 points,including 6 three-pointers, was junior point guard MasonWarren.
Contributing to the Cobra win with 21 points, seven rebounds andfour steals was senior forward Collin King. Adrian Merchant netted15 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Followingwith 13 points was Blake Pickett.
In the girls game, sophomore guard Alexis Crosby came off thebench to score 13 points and lead the Lady Cobras to a key 44-26victory over the Lady Bruins. Wesson improved to 5-7 on the seasonand 1-1 in region play.
Wesson 84, St. Joseph 71
St. Joseph (4-10, 0-2) jumped on sluggish Wesson (7-5, 1-1) foran early 8-0 lead and finished on top 15-10 at the end of the firstquarter.
Wesson played better defense and forced some turnovers for a23-15 run and take a 36-30 lead going into the half.
The Cobras were missing starting senior guard Wade Williams whosustained broken bones in his hand against St. Aloysius on Dec. 7.He will be out of action until February.
“We started slow,” said Wesson boys coach Ron Kessler. “Thisyear, the third quarter has been our strong quarter. This was thefirst time we shot the ball better than 60 percent from theoutside. Mason Warren has stepped it up with Wade out.”
It looked liked the Cobras had put the Bruins away following a29-17 scoring spree in the third quarter for a 65-47 lead goinginto the final frame.
St. Joseph didn’t quit and got four 3-pointers from guard JustinDavis from the left corner in the final four minutes to cut thedeficit to 13 points, 84-71, at the end.
Davis was the high scorer for Coach Scott Pews-lee’s Bruins.Terrance Bailey scored 18 points. Following with 10 points eachwere George Maslouf and Dejermy Thomas.
Phil Fortenberry pulled down six rebounds for the Cobrasfollowed by Adrian King with five.
Wesson 44, St. Joseph 26
Both teams struggled in the first quarter and were tied 10-allafter Wesson forward Natasha Brown nailed a field goal with 51seconds left.
Crosby nailed a three-pointer at the 3:39 mark in the secondquarter to give the Lady Cobras a four point, 16-12, lead over theLady Bruins.
Wesson went on a 12-3 run on St. Joseph, capped by athree-pointer from freshman point guard Perry K. Furr and Crosby togive the hosts a 28-17 lead going into the final frame.
The final frame saw the Lady Cobras go on a 16-9 run to preservethe 18-point win over the Lady Bruins.
“We played a lot better in the second half,” said Wesson girlscoach Jemmye Ann Helms. “We stepped it up in the second half. Ourdefense wasn’t that good. We had too many turnovers.”
Furr and Brown finished the game for Wesson with seven points.Leading off the backboards with 13 rebounds senior post KiraTurnbo. Brown pulled down six rebounds and made four steals. MeganAllen collected five rebounds and game three steals.
Chenere Epps sparked St. Joseph (3-10, 0-2) with 11 points. IraNoffis coaches the Lady Bruins.
Junior varsity boys
The Cobras fell to the Bruins 40-33 in the final minutes ofplay.
Leading Wesson with 11 points was Warren Hood. Joe Deckerfinished with seven points.
Wesson returns from the Christmas Holidays to host a three-daytournament beginning Tuesday, Dec. 28, aand going through Thursday,Dec. 30.