By Brad Greer

South Panola found things tough going as the Lady Tigers dropped a pair of games at the Oxford Charger Challenge basketball tournament Monday and Tuesday.

South Panola (2-3) fell in the opening game Monday to the four-time Class 2A state champion Ingomar Falcons 47-37. The Lady Tigers could not buy a bucket early on as the Falcons grabbed an early 14-8 lead after one quarter of play.

Kaniya Ford got South Panola within striking distance with a three pointer that closed the margin to 20-18 midway through the second quarter before Ingmar reeled off six straight points to take a 26-18 lead at halftime.

The Lady Falcons led twice by double digits as the second half got underway but South Panola kept clawing their way back despite only hitting two field goals in the third quarter.

Ingomar gradually began to pull away in the fourth quarter by increasing their led to 44-31, its largest  of the game.

Aziyah McGhee paced the Tigers with eight points as no South Panola player reached double figure scoring. Bailey Ware and Takyra Webster followed with six points.

Other scorers included Ford and Marshala Doyle five point, Crystal Mayes, four points, Ladyship Robinson and Teddera Patton with two points each.

The Lady Tigers returned to Oxford Tuesday to face off against the Panthers of Pine Grove who defeated South Panola 66-50. Mayes paced the Tigers with a season-high 18 points on 8-of-10 sooting from the field but to no avail as the Panthers from Ripley connected on eight three-pointers and 24-of-32 from the free throw line.

Loren Elliot led Pine Grove (6-0) with 27 points including five trays in the first quarter. Taylor Fletcher added 25 points for the Lady Panthers. South Panola had two more players in double figure scoring as Doyle followed Mayes with 15 points while Webster garnered 12.

Aziyah McGhee chipped in with three points with Patton knocking down one free throw.

South Panola will return from the Thanksgiving holidays Tuesday as they visit North Delta beginning at 6 p.m then host North Panola Thursday in a 4 p.m tip off

The boys did not play in the Oxford tournament. They will be in action Tuesday night when all the South Panola and North Delta School teams will play in North Delta’s gym beginning at 4 p.m.