MONTICELLO – Lawrence County and South Pike split a Division 7-4A basketball double-header Friday night at LCHS. In the girls’ game, Janice Felder’s Lady Eagles dominated the second half to win 52-36. In boys’ action, Pat Bridges’ Cougars were in control from the very beginning rolling to a 59-39 win.

The girls’ game was tight in the first half. South Pike held a 24-23 lead at halftime. In the second half, the Lady Eagles pulled away, outscoring Lawrence County 28-13, as the Lady Cougars scored just four second-half field goals. LCHS shot just 25 percent (12 of 48) for the game.

“I thought our kids played hard,” Lady Cougar Coach Vicki Rutland said, “and I thought we played a very decent first half – we were right in the game. In the second half, we just couldn’t make a basket. We had a lot of good shots. We just didn’t make any of them.”

While South Pike’s lightening-quick guards were stellar in the backcourt, the much bigger Lady Eagles brutalized Lawrence County in the frontcourt, especially in the second half. Nakaylis Washington and Kaletron Baker paced South Pike with 13 points each. Myneka Frazier added 11.

The South Pike girls improved to 20-5 overall, and 8-0 in Division 7-4A play. The Lady Eagles are assured of one of the top two seeds in the upcoming division tournament. Thus, South Pike is assured of advancing to the 4A playoffs.

Lawrence County fell to 13-12 overall and 4-5 in the division. With only one division game left to play, LCHS will find itself in a first round do-or-die game in the division tournament, likely against Columbia.

The Lady Cougars were led by DeNeisha Dickson, who had 14 points, six rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots. Haven Johnson added nine points. Zipporah Baylis led LCHS in rebounding with eight.

The boys’ game was never very close. Lawrence County jumped to an early 20-4 lead, and the Eagles never got any closer than nine points after that. The LCHS defense swamped South Pike, which entered the game with four straight wins. South Pike scored just 19 points in the first three quarters.

Keyshawn Feazell led Lawrence County with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. Phillip Moore had nine points and four assists. Keith Davis added eight points and five rebounds. Lawrence County had a great shooting night, hitting exactly 50 percent (13 of 26) of its two-point attempts and connecting on 8 of 17 three-point shots.

The Cougars improved to 16-9 overall and 7-2 in the division. The Cougars have clinched second place in the division standings, meaning that Lawrence County will earn a first round bye in the upcoming division tournament and an automatic bid to the 4A playoffs.

For Joe Taylor’s Eagles, TaVorious Williams had a good night, scoring 16 points. Marquez Andrews added 9. South Pike fell to 9-16 overall and 3-5 in Division 7-4A play.