By Myra Bean

The North Panola Cougars earned their first district win at home this season by defeating district foe Byhalia 66-38.

The Cougars improved to 2-0 in the district after back-to-back wins this week and are 4-7 overall.

The Lady Cougars however fell to 0-2 in district action after a 52-44 loss to the Byhalia Lady Indians.

Cougar head coach Dannis Jackson said the team came out more focused and ready to play.

“We are concentrating on winning as many district games as we can,” Jackson said. “Our defense played well. We have been good on defense all year though. However, we played a lot better on offense.”

North Panola led 32-19 at halftime.

The boys were led by senior Donte Howard with 22 points. Ketwun House followed with 21 points.

Other scorers include Devonte Howard, 15 points; Darrius Jackson, four points; Eking Miller and Jerotney Kelson, two points each.

Today, the Cougars will host Independence in district action. Independence (6-8 overall, 2-1 district) lost a district game to Winona Friday 68-55. Their wins were against Byhalia and Palmer.

“We need to secure this win,” Jackson said.

Lady Cougars

The Lady Cougars led the majority of the game and were leading 23-16 at the half. Byhalia scored 19 third quarter points to take the 35-34 lead going into the fourth quarter. Byhalia kept up the pace and out scored North Panola 17-10 in the fourth quarter to pull away and win.

“They shot well from the free throw line,” said Lady Cougar head coach Chris Yancy.

Byhalia hit nine of 15 free throws on the evening.

North Panola starters Angelica Davison and Daryleshia Ward were practically shut down in the game, shooting two points each and also got in foul trouble throughout the game.

“We were not able to see a lot of production from those two,” Yancy said.

Teariny Wheatley led the Lady Cougars with 14 points, followed by Onesha Hunt with 12 and Candace Mottley with 11. Cearea Jackson rounded out scoring with three points.

Upcoming Schedule

The Lady Cougars will host the Independence Lady Wildcats tonight, following the junior varsity games which tip off at 4 p.m.

Thursday and Friday, the Lady Cougars will play in the Magic City Classic at H. W. Byers. Thursday, they will take on Hamilton at 9 a.m. and Friday Ashland at noon.

Next week, the Cougar teams will play in the O-Town Showdown at Oxford High School Wednesday and Thursday. The girls will play Oxford at 7 p.m. Wednesday, followed by the boys’ game at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, the teams will play Lafayette at 4 p.m., followed by the boys at 5:30 p.m.