Kosciusko girls won three games in seven days. The Lady Whippets defeated Northeast Lauderdale 62-50 and West Lauderdale 71-35 in Region 4-4A action and edged Murrah, a 6A team, 53-50 in a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday tournament game Monday at Yazoo City High School.
D'naylah Williams had a big game against Northeast with 28 points, 13 rebounds and three steals. Naja Mays had 13 points, three rebounds and two assists.
The West Lauderdale game was close for a half. Kosciusko led 35-28 at the break before pulling away behind a defensive effort that surrendered only seven second-half points.
Jamiya Gray led the Lady Whippets with 26 points, eight rebounds, six steals and three assists. Williams had 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Mays provided a spark with three 3-pointers in the second quarter, finishing with 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Williams had 21 points against Murrah, Gray 12 and Diamond Kern added 10. Kern, a sophomore, moved into the starting lineup due to a knee injury Haley Olive sufferend in a January 6 game against Louisville that will sideline her for the season.
With the two region wins, Kosciusko evened its 4-4A record at 2-2 and improved to 11-7 overall. The Whippets and Lady Whippets played Leake Central Tuesday and will be at home Friday against Choctaw Central in 4-4A games.
Boys
The Whippets fell to 0-4 in region play with losses to Northeast Lauderdale 66-45 and Wets Lauderdale 56-33.
Kosciusko played its four region games without coach Eleazarus Greenleaf due to illness. He returned to the bench Tuesday for the Leake Central game. In his absence, assistant coach Derrick Huffman ran the team.
The Northeast game was close until the second half. Caden Greer scored 12 points and Jaybre Pierce 10 for Kosciusko.
Kameron Vaughns was the only Whippet in double figures against West Lauderdale with 12 points.
“The kids are fairly young and they are still learning,” Huffman said. “They are trying to stay positive.”
Middle School Basketball Invitational
The Kosciusko boys and girls middle school teams were both defeated by Neshoba Central in the opening round of the tournament last Friday at East Central Community College. They were among 32 boys and girls team invited to participate.
Both Neshoba Central teams also won their second round matches, the boys against Columbus and the girls against Kemper County. The Neshoba County boys will play Baldwyn and the girls will play Belmont Friday in the quarterfinals.
Championship games are scheduled for January 28 at East Mississippi Community College.
