By Brad Greer

Both the North Panola girls and boys basketball teams closed the regular season with mixed results Friday night against Rosa Fort in front of a packed house at the “Cougar Den.”

Senior Brittany Patton poured in 21 points to lead the Lady Cougars to a 52-43 win over Rosa Fort, thus  wrapping up the number two seed in the Region 2-4A tournament that begins tonight at Lewisburg. North Panola (18-6; 7-5) will square off against the host Patriots tonight at 6:30.

The North Panola boys were not as fortunate however as they came out on the short end of the stick by dropping a 86-52 verdict to the No. 4 ranked Lions. The Cougars will began their post season by taking on Lewisburg tonight a 6:30 in a separate gym.

Jenisha Jackson scored six points in the first quarter to help guide the Lady Cougars to a 14-5 lead after one quarter of play. Catonya Newson and Patton added four points each in the period. Patton’s pair of layups in the second quarter gave North Panola a 24-15 halftime lead.

North Panola shot 19-of-41 from the field and 11-of-26 ( 42 percent) from the free throw line. The Lady Lions meanwhile connected on 18-of-46 field goals for 39 percent.

Newsom and Patton knocked down four consecutive free throws to give the Cougars their largest lead of the game at 37-23 with 1:24 remaining in the third quarter. But Rosa Fort was not going away without a fight as the Lady Lions went on a 15-1 run to tie the game at 38 with 3:06 left in the contest.

With North Panola clinging to a 40-38 lead, Nadashaney Montgomery knocked down a huge three-pointer from the right side at the 2:43 mark to give the Cougars a 43-38 lead. Rosa Fort trimmed the lead to 45-42 with 1:51 left on Anna Brown’s two free throws, but Newsom added four straight free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.

Newsom followed Patton in scoring with 16 points while Jackson added eight. Montgomery chipped in with three while Angelica Davidson scored two points.

The second game of the night was not nearly as entertaining as the girls matchup to say the least as the Lions raced out to a 23-9 first quarter lead and cruised the rest of the way.Darius Loveberry’s jumper with 6:30 left in the the second quarter pulled the Cougars within 11 points at 24-13 but that would be as close as they would come as Rosa Fort exploded on a 18-2 run.

j n  Rosa Fort, (24-4; 12-0),who placed five players in double figure scoring, was led by LaBarron Collins with 18 points. Wayne Miller paced North Panola,(15-11; 7-5) with nine points. Loveberry followed with eight while Brandon Bagwell and Aaron Heffner each registered six points.Deonta Howard chipped in with five while Zach Gardner added four. Cameron Shorty and Terrance Thurman each had three while Ricky Hunt and Marque Phillips rounded out the scoring with two points.