By Will Dickins
DeSoto Central girls 70, SP 61
Desoto Central came to town Monday to face South Panola Lady Tiger basketball team in the first round of the 6A north playoffs and escaped with a 70-61 win to end the Tigers’ season.
Lady Tigers Jasmine Wright and Alexis Smith were named to the All-District Tournament team.
The game began with both teams trading baskets in a fast-paced affair.  The Tigers tied it up at 7-7 with four minutes remaining in the quarter.  One minute later, DeSoto Central went on an 8-0 run to finish the quarter leading 15-7.  
The Tigers battled back in the second quarter.  Jasmine Wright made a layup then a hook shot from the post to get South Panola going. With a defense that frustrated the Jaguars, they scratched away with turnovers and easy baskets on the other side to bring the lead down to five.  With 54 seconds left in the half, Sydney Morgan hit a much needed three to bring the score to 22-27 in favor of DeSoto Central.  Each team would add two more points to end the half 24-29.  
South Panola started off slow offensively in the second half as they only scored six points in the first four minutes compared to 12 from the Jaguars.  This stretch put the lead at 12.  The Lady Tigers scratched away again with a three from Sydney Morgan, and six points from Alexis Smith in the paint.  They just could not keep the Jaguars from scoring and could only take two points off of the lead as the quarter ended 51-41.  
The beginning of the fourth quarter had the feeling of a firework show when Wright and Sydney Morgan decided to show how well they can shoot the three pointer.  In the first two and a half minutes of the quarter, Wright and Sydney Morgan had 11 points.  The show hit its peak when Wright would make two free throws after a Smith offensive rebound to bring the score to 58-54 with 4:51 left to go in the game.   They scratched their way back yet again.  With chance after chance not falling for the Tigers, DeSoto Central took advantage and pulled away late in the game.  South Panola could not get enough breaks in the end and would fall 61-70.
Wright led all scorers with 26 points.  Sydney Morgan finished with 17 points; Smith finished with 14 points; and Marshala Doyle finished with four points.
After a hard fought game, the Tigers ended the season playing well.  They entered with the second seed in their district and were competitive in every game they played.  The Lady Tigers will build on that for next year.