Lady Wolves crush Hinds; Bulldogs slip past Wolves
Published 12:00 pm Tuesday, February 18, 2014
WESSON – “I’m disappointed, but we’ve got nothing to hang our heads about.” Those were the words of Copiah-Lincoln head coach Kenny Bizot after his team lost, 69-67, to Hinds in Wesson on Monday night. Bizot saw his six-member Co-Lin men’s team fall in the final seconds for a second consecutive game after losing by one to East Central last Thursday.
In the women’s game, Co-Lin blew the doors off of the Lady Bulldogs from the opening tip and coasted to a 91-44 victory.
Hinds 69, Co-Lin 67
The winning basket came for Hinds with 26 seconds remaining when Derrick Little grabbed an offensive rebound and made the put-back off of a missed Bulldog’s free throw. Little, a 6’0″ freshman guard from Yazoo City, snuck around the traffic in front of the basket to snatch the ball and toss up his game winner before any Wolves had time to react.
Missed free throws late cost the Wolves (9-13, 5-8) against East Central, but on this night it would be a late game turnover that would give the Eagles (8-14, 5-8) life when it appeared all was lost.
The Wolves held a 67-64 lead and looked ready to salt the game away with just over 90 seconds remaining in regulation when Hinds would force a turnover with their full court pressure. A dunk by Dela Mayers of Hinds would cut the Co-Lin lead to 67-66 and a Clayton Tate free throw would tie the game and set up Little’s game winner on Tate’s second free throw miss.
The Wolves had opportunities at the end, but their offense couldn’t produce any points over the final 3:53 minutes of action. Co-Lin trailed 37-36 at halftime.
Terrance James led the Wolves with 20 points and Michael Vardaman chipped in 18. Teammates LaJustin Anderson scored 15, Terry Morris, 8, Lorenzo Deans, 4, and Corey Cox scored 2 points to round out the Co-Lin scoring.
Tate leads Hinds with 18 points.
Co-Lin 91, Hinds 44
It was a night to pad your stats if you were a Lady Wolf as they kept the Lady Bulldogs winless for the season. Co-Lin (15-7, 8-5) started the game off leading 16-0 and Hinds (0-22, 0-13) trailed 46-13 at halftime.
It was a triumphant night for a group of Lady Wolves sophomores playing their final game on Gwyn Young Court. The sophomore class, Keke Collins, Ashley Minor, Jessica Wilson, and Tyrisha Patterson, finished with a career home record of 20-2. They won a regular season South Division title as freshmen and were part of the 2013 MACJC State Championship team.
As has been the case nearly every game this season, it was freshman Claresa Banks who led the Lady Wolves in scoring with 20 points. Minor chipped in 14, Maleah Isaac 12, and Tyra Gibson and Kentija Tarleton scored 10 points apiece.
The Lady Wolves sit one game back for the last post season spot and the tie-breaker scenarios are abundant and confusing. Coach Gwyn Young and his team will know more on Thursday after they take on Pearl River and after they see the final scores from around the league.
Tip off in Poplarville versus Pearl River is at 5 p.m. with the men’s game to follow. Listen live at colinathletics.com or on WMJU 104.3 FM in Brookhaven.