By Angie Ledbetter

The South Panola Lady Tiger’s basketball team fell short in the first round of the district playoffs Tuesday night in Starkville as Tupelo defeated them 49-42.

The young team fought hard all year long, but did not have enough to overrun Tupelo.

The Lady Tigers entered the tournament seeded No. 3 while the Lady Golden Wave were seeded No. 2.

The Lady Tigers scored 12 in the first quarter while the Lady Golden Wave put up 15.

Dorian Winfield scored the first points of the game on a three-pointer. The Lady Tigers took a 5-0 lead on a Winfield field goal. Christa Brown scored five points and Winfield added two more to end the quarter.

In the second quarter the Lady Tigers fell out of sync and were outscored 16-7 as Tupelo led 31-19 at the half.

The Lady Tigers fought back in the third quarter, out scoring Tupelo 14-6 to cut the lead 37-33 going into the final quarter.

It was a battle to the end as the teams fought to keep their seasons alive.

However, it was Tupelo outscoring South Panola 13-7 in the final quarter to secure the win.

With 2:50 left, the game was tied at 42. The Lady Golden Wave scored two points. A South Panola foul sent Antoniette Riddle to the free throw line.

Riddle hit one of two shots to give Tupelo 45-42 lead with 1:17 on the clock. Another Lady Tiger foul gave Tupelo two more shots at the free throw line which made for the 47-42 lead with 1:01 left in the game. The Lady Golden Wave scored two more free throws for the final points of the game, 49-42.

Winfield was the leading scorer with 21 points and was four of eight from the line. Other Lady Tiger scorers include Christa Brown, 9; Moore, 5; Contreras, 4; and Chresha Brown, 3.

The Lady Tigers shot 44 percent from the line while the Lady Golden Wave shot 71 percent. Leading the Golden Wave was Cunningham with 11 points.

The Lady Tigers traveled to Madison Central on February 1 to take on the Lady Jaguars. The Lady Tigers defeated them 53-51, shooting 85 percent from the line.

Winfield led with 21 points. Moore score 20 points and was eight of eight from the free throw line. Christa Brown added eight points and hit two of four from the line. Sims scored four points.

The Lady Tigers finished their season 6-12 overall and 1-6 in division action.