By De’Isaac House

Revenge is better with time, especially when it’s against a district opponent. The first time Holly Springs and North Panola faced off, the Hawks won both games. 

The Lady Cougars and Cougars felt like they were not out played, but as if they did not put out enough effort. 

Holly Springs (girls) 45, 

Lady Cougars 34

Up first were the Lady Cougars who were looking to get to stable form that they have been searching for all season.

Coming out of the gate the game was not close and it was all Lady Hawks. The Lady Cougars could not hang in there and were down early. 

In the second half the Lady Cougars began to fight back and piece-by-piece clawed their way back into the game. The deficit seemed to be too much to overcome in the fourth quarter as the Lady Cougars fell 45-34. 

Leading the Lady Cougars was ShaQuanta Pettis, who was perfect from behind the arc and knocked down three huge three pointers. She finished with 11 points. 

Other scorers include Dikisha Wilbourn, nine points and 3-for-6 from the charity stripe; LaErica Spann, six points; and Onesha Hunt and Kiana Willingham, four points each. Hunt went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. 

North Panola 78, Holly Springs 57

The Cougars, ranked No. 2 in 3A, were really looking for revenge the most because they felt like they gave away the first game away. 

“We didn’t lose or get outplayed, we just didn’t play our best,” Ketewan House, starting point guard said. 

The Cougars came out of the gate with a big 17-2 run. From then on the Hawks had no chance to catch up. 

The Hawks had a perimeter “microwave.” He knocked a few three-pointers down from the last game. 

North Panola kept him under wraps as it was hard to stop him. He was the push behind the offense as he tried to help the Holly Springs team to catch up, scoring three three-pointers in the first quarter.

The big keys for the win for the Cougars were the play on defense and the play of the senior point guard House. 

He exploded as he knocked down shot after shot and forced his way to the free throw line. The steals stacked up and added up so quickly that the Hawks did not know what hit them. 

In the second half the Cougars took off and the reserves got a lot of playing time. The bench provided 14 points and added a small spark, but the starters put up huge numbers. 

The Hawks’ “sniper” from outside knocked down six consecutive three-pointers, but it was not enough as the Cougars won 78-57. 

Leading the Cougars was House with 20 points, with 6-for-11 from the charity stripe. 

Robert Oliver, Gerotney Kelson and JaAnthony Wright finished with 14 points. Oliver went 4-for-8 from the charity stripe. Kelson went 3-for-5 and Wright went 2-for-4. 

Demetrick Porter finished with five points including a huge three to beat the buzzer for the last shot of the game. Tevin Wink finished with four points. 

Kier Washington finished with three points and finished 3-for-4 from the stripe. Vennis Mills and Darius Jackson finished with two points. Mills went 2-for-3 from the line.

The Cougars are on the road to play Bruce tonight at 5 p.m. They return home Friday to host Palmer in a district rematch at 5 p.m.