MENDENHALL- – The Lawrence County Lady Cougars roared back froma 14-point deficit to down the Magee Lady Trojans 51-49 in theopening-round of the Mendenhall Invitational Tournament.

Junior center Craig Tyler pumped in a game-high 23 points andgrabbed 17 rebounds as the Lawrence County Cougars smothered theMagee Trojans 84-62.

The Lady Cougars and Cougars advanced the championship roundSaturday night at 7 p.m. and 8:30. respectively. They will face thewinner of Mendenhall and Prentiss girls and boys’ contests. Theconsolation finals tip off at 4 and 5:30.

Cougars 84, Magee 62

As had been the case in the South Central Mississippi area thepast few days, there was a lot of rain. The Magee Trojans broughtsome of that rain inside the Mendenhall Gym, raining nine3-pointbaskets on Lawrence Co.

But it was the Cougar defense which would flood the Trojans outof the gym en route to the 22-point win.

The Trojans got treys from Julian Harper and Eric Williams tocarry a 21-18 lead into the second period. Jeff Patterson provided6 points in the second for head coach Marcus Lomas.

LCHS countered with a balanced scoring attack and their patentedman-to-man defense as they gained a 38-38 deadlock at theintermission.

Cougar senior guard Ray Collins took charge in the thirdquarter, scoring 13 of his 19 points and making several key steals.Lawrence County head coach Bobby Lee saw his team explode to a66-53 lead entering the fourth quarter. Collins also had 5assists.

Tyler, a 6-foot-5 junior, owned the offensive boards throughoutthe game as the Trojans could not an answer for the 230-plus poundforce inside. Most of Tyler’s points came on offensiveputbacks.

Cougar David Clark gave support with 20 points, 15 rebounds and3 blocked shots. Victor Longino added 13. Justin Middlebrook had 5assists.

Harper led the Trojans with 21 points (5 treys) and EricWilliams (3 treys) had 18.

Lady Cougars 51, Magee 49

The Lady Cougars (1-1) fell behind early and often throughoutthe game, but their defensive pressure proved to be the decisivefactor in the contest. Their defense basically became theiroffense.

Magee authored a 14-8 lead at the end of the first quarter andthen held a 24-16 cushion at halftime.

LCHS, coached by Jennie Vance, trailed by as many as 14 pointsbefore beginning their comeback. A suffocating pressure defense,along with some timely baskets from Kenyactha Myers and RoneshaGarner, aided the Lady Cougars’ cause as they trailed by 3 points,35-32 entering the final frame.

The lead seesawed back and forth during the final 8 minutes.

Magee’s Kayla Hubbard scored on a layup with 46 ticks left onthe clock for a 49-48 Lady Trojan lead.

With 25 seconds left in the game, LCHS’s Monique Collins sackeda 24-foot trey to give the Lady Cougars the lead for good at 51-49.Magee had several possessions afterwards and were unable toconvert.

Garner, a 5-7 senior guard, led Vance’s squad with 18 points and8 steals. Myers added 12 points and 4 assists. Jasmine Courtney had3 steals. Brittney Sherman dished out 3 assists.

Magee was led by Jamie Floyd, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, with agame-high 20 points.