By Myra Bean
The Lady Tigers started off district season with a bang knocking out Hernando 73-30 Friday night.
South Panola jumped out to a 6-0 lead behind the edginess of freshman Marshala Doyle and senior Jasmine Wright. On a steal and field goal, Doyle got the Lady Tigers (5-6 overall, 1-0 district) on the boards first, followed by back-to-back field goals by Wright.
The Lady Tigers led 23-5 at the end of the first quarter. Wright hit four field goals straight and sank a three-pointer at the buzzer. Wright scored 16 of her 28 points in the first quarter. She also had seven rebounds, three steals and two assists.
The Lady Tigers had a comfortable 40-16 lead at halftime. The Lady Tigers used a lot of players in the second half and let the starters rest a few minutes.
South Panola had a 53-25 lead going into fourth quarter and coasted to the end of the game.
Other scorers for the Lady Tigers include Doyle, 16 points, six steals, three assists and one rebound; Chloe Morgan, nine points; five steals, two rebounds, one assist; Jaterica Amos, eight points, two rebounds; Sydney Morgan, two steals, one rebound, one assist; Tracie Benson, four points, three rebounds; and Temaye Williams, two points.              
Hernando boys 61, SP 55
The South Panola boys are not sure what happened as they relinquished an eight-point lead and lost their first district game to Hernando 61-55.
 Before the game, South Panola head coach Charlie Howard expressed how good he had heard Hernando was.
“I hear they are tough,” Howard said.
The teams took a while to get on the boards. On a put back, Kenon Johnson scored first for South Panola with 5:35 left in the first quarter and then followed up with another field goal to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead.
Hernando caught up early with a three-pointer by Eli Powell with 4:30 to go to cut the lead 4-3.
South Panola’s Jordin Smith answered with a three-pointer for the 6-3 lead. Quen Poole added to the lead with a field goal for the 8-3 lead at 3:47 to go. Then in an old-fashioned three-point play, Smith gave the Tigers an 11-3 lead with 2:47 to go.
Earnest Sanford rounded out the first quarter scoring with a steal and a field goal with 58 seconds remaining. Hernando was not finished in the first half as Kelvin Cartwright sank a three, followed by two free throws by Powell with 14 seconds remaining.
The intensity of the game remained in the second quarter as Hernando closed in on South Panola with a field goal by Powell to cut the lead, 13-10.
South Panola extended its lead to 19-11 on a three point play and a three-pointer by Smith with 4:16 remaining in the second half. On two free throws by Andre Gleaton, the Tigers led 21-13.
Hernando upped its defense and tied the game at 21 with 1:38 left. On a three-pointer by Garrett Garner, Hernando led 24-21. At the buzzer Poole sank a field goal to close the gap at one, 24-23, at halftime.
After halftime, the game was tied at 26 and broken by Smith who went coast-to-coast to give the Tigers back the lead, 28-26.
Then the game was tied at 28, 30, 36 and 38, but Hernando had the one-point lead 44-43 going into the fourth quarter.
The game was tied at 52 with 2:17 remaining in the game, but Hernando pulled away after that on fouls and turnovers by the Tigers to take the win.
Smith led all scorers with 20 points. Other scorers for South Panola are Johnson, 12; Kendricus Carlton, seven; Poole, six; Gleaton, five; Bryson Robinson, three; and Sanford, two.
SPJV girls 23, Hernando 5
The Jr. Varsity Lady Tigers had little trouble taking down Hernando. South Panola led 12-3 at halftime.
Tracie Benson led in scoring with seven points. Other scorers include Gracie Holloway, three; and with two points each were TyQuera Victom, Breanna Johnson, Marshala Doyle, Sedria Joy and Octavia Jackson.
Hernando JV boys 29, SP 17
The South Panola jr. varsity boys struggled throughout the evening. They were down 5-4 at the end of the first quarter and 8-6 at halftime.
They took a lead in the third quarter to go ahead 15-13 going into the fourth quarter.
During the final quarter, Hernando scored more points than it had the other three, outscoring South Panola 16-5.
Scoring for South Panola were Cortez Campbell, seven points; Markevious Vaughn and Ketrell Key, four points each; and Ernest Sanford, two points.
The Tiger teams are off for Christmas holidays and will be back in action in January.