By Brad Greer

Four area basketball teams closed out their 2009 portion of the schedule by taking part in basketball tournaments over the Christmas holidays.

Both the North Delta boys and girls squads traveled to Senatobia to take part in the Magnolia Heights Tournament while the North Panola girls played in the “ Battle of the Best” girls tournament in Pontotoc. The North Panola boys meanwhile headed up I-55 to play in the Coldwater Shootout.

The North Delta boys dropped their first two games by losing to the host team Magnolia Heights Monday then fell to St. Benedict (Tenn.) Tuesday. No score was reported in the game. The Green Wave concluded the tournament Wednesday morning against Starkville.

On the girls side of the bracket, the Lady Green Wave split their first two games of the tournament by slipping past Starkville 40-39 Monday morning before falling to Marshall 57-31 Tuesday.

Laci DuBravec led North Delta with 11 points and two steals in the victory over Starkville. Bradi Beard followed with ten points, four rebounds and three assists while Sara Waldrip added six points and five rebounds. Katelyn Still and Erin Snider each registered four points each. Crystal Contreras and Lauren Kimzy rounded out the scoring with three and two points each.

In the loss to Marshall, Waldrip was the leading scorer for the Wave with ten points and eight rebounds. Beard contributed with seven points, seven boards and three assists as North Delta fell to 12-7 on the season. DuBravec added nine points while freshmen Charla Shae Darby had three. Still rounded out the scoring with two points and two steals.

The Lady Green Wave played short-handed in the three games of the tournament, dressing out only seven players.

 North Delta will be back in action Monday as they travel back to Magnolia Heights for four games starting at 3 p.m.

The North Panola Lady Cougars also split a pair of games by defeated  West Union 46-27 before losing to No. 2 ranked New Albany on Tuesday. North Panola (13-3) will travel to Marks Palmer Tuesday beginning at 6 p.m.

Led by Ricky Hunt’s 18 points, the red-hot North Panola Cougars ran their winning streak to seven games in a row with a 101-69 thumping of Lake Cormorant Monday in the Coldwater Tournament. Darius Loveberry and Cameron Shorty followed with 16 points as North Panola placed five players in double digit scoring.

Devonte Howard added 14 points while Cordarryl chipped in with ten points. Marque Phillips registered eight while Aaron Heffner and Deunta Howard each had five. Brandon Bagwell scored four while Terrence Turman and Brandarius Kirkwood had two points. Zach Gardner finished with one point.