Byers splits with Coahoma County


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Byers splits with Coahoma County

By CLAUDE VINSON
Sports Editor

The 2A teams from the Delta came to H.W. Byers last Monday night, Dec. 19, and brought some impressive resumes with them.

The Coahoma County Lady Panthers were 12-2 and the Panthers were 13-1.

Perhaps the Lady Panthers hadn’t met a team with the resume, and abilities, of the 1A Lady Lions. The Byers girls were aggressive on both offense and defense. After spotting the visitors the first two, they quickly ran up a 21-9 lead in the first period.

The Lady Panthers contested the Lady Lions in the second, pulling to within four at one juncture. The Lady Lions were probably just taking a brief respite because they began cutting the court off, forcing the Coahoma miscues and roaring to a 40-22 halftime difference.

Coahoma fell farther behind in the third, yielding to a tough Byers defense and blistering offense. Lioness Kyra Gulledge picked up a fourth foul and went to the bench. A short time later Dandy Dozen entry, Alexis Hardaway, went down as a result of a flagrant foul and was lost for the rest of the game. It perhaps served as an inspiration because Byers finished the third up 61-33.

Even with part of the team leadership away from the floor, there was no scoring slump. The Byers reserves took the Lady Lions to a 72-43 resolution.

Abria Gulledge led the floor with 20 big ones, followed by K. Gulledge and Hardaway with 13 each. Justice Martin rounded out the scoring with eight.

Felixica Evans led the visitors with 10 followed by Eugenia Gilliam and Davita Johnson with eight apiece.

Lions fall to Coahoma

The Lions and Panthers appeared more than ready to claw at each other in the nightcap. The Panthers rushed out to an 8-2 lead before the Lions began clawing back. They stepped up defensive coverage and took a 12-11 lead just seconds before the quarter closed, but Coahoma came with another deuce to go up 13-12.

The squads were running neck-and-neck in the second stanza until the Panthers began to pull away behind the efforts of Damion Blue and Frederick Nabors. They took an eight-point lead in the waning moments of the second. Lions cut into it but still fell behind by six at the horn (32-26).

Chris Echols pleased the home crowd with a runaway two-handed slam to open the third period. But Blue really went to work for the opposition. He was hitting from all angles and even from the charity stripe. Herrandus Washington brought the Lions three points closer at the buzzer (52-43).

The Lions had some misfires in the fourth but they never stopped pushing. They reduced Coahoma’s double-digit lead a couple of times but they couldn’t get it to a manageable deficit until 1:12 remained. They cut it to three at 65-62 and picked up another point at the line but fell 71-63 at the end.

Echols led the home team with 19. Anthony Mabon scored 18 and Marterrious Rayford and Jarvis Jones had nine and eight, respectively.

Blue performed at the top of his game with 32, trailed by Nabors with 11 and Eddie Taylor with the same number, plus nine from Rodarius Miller.

Byers girls (9-3) hosted the Magic Citi Showdown last Thursday and Friday. The Lions (6-3) and Lady Lions host Holly High this Friday, Dec. 30.

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