Thursday sports: Patriots, Tigers battle in key Region 1-7A basketball action
Photo: Amarion Davis (4) led Lewisburg to Thursday night’s victory over Hernando. Davis is being guarded by the Tigers’ Jakeel Truss. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
Senior night at Lewisburg Thursday night saw the Patriots’ boys basketball hold its spot among the top teams in Region 1-7A basketball with a 13-point victory over county rival Hernando. That came after the Hernando girls’ basketball team took an 11-point win from the Lady Patriots that was Lewisburg’s first region loss of the season.
LEWISBURG BOYS 57, HERNANDO 44
Thursday’s victory over Hernando had the Patriots keep pace with Horn Lake at the top of the six-team region. Amarion Davis and TyBious Ware led the attack with 17 and 13 points, respectively in the win, keyed by a third quarter that also held the Tigers to six points. That came after a deep three-point shot from Ryan Taylor had given Hernando a 26-25 lead at halftime.
Taylor led all scorers with 19 points for Hernando but was held to just a third-quarter free throw in the second half. Jakeel Truss added 14 points, with 10 of that total coming after halftime.
The Tigers rallied in the first quarter to take an 11-10 lead after one quarter and had a 21-16 lead halfway through the second quarter of play. However, the Patriots were able to tie the game at 21-21 with 2:13 remaining, then Taylor’s trey sent Hernando into the locker room up one point at halftime. Davis had nine of his 17 points in the second period for Lewisburg.
“Amarion Davis is our motor,” said Lewisburg coach Zach Jorgensen after the game. “He does a lot of things for us and he’s very consistent with that.”
Josiah Nelson hit a three-pointer for the Patriots to open the third quarter and the quick start seemed to indicate what was ahead, as the Patriots were spurred to take control of the game.
Lewisburg had a 37-29 lead just two minutes into the third quarter and were never challenged after that. The advantage was 44-32 after three quarters for Lewisburg and 14 at 48-34 Patriots with five minutes left in the game. Hernando got within 12 with less than three minutes remaining but failed to get much closer.
Jorgensen was also complimentary about how Ware has progressed during the season.
“TyBious has come such a long way with his scoring being consistent at the basket,” Jorgensen said. “When the other guys aren’t hitting, he and Davis tend to step up and give us that big lift.”
HERNANDO GIRLS 48, LEWISBURG 37
After a nine-point loss to Lewisburg back in December, Hernando needed to pin a win on the front-running Lady Patriots to move back into the front of the Region 1-7A race.
That’s how important Hernando’s victory was on Lewisburg’s home floor because both teams now have one Region 1-7A loss on the season. And if the teams remain tied at the end of the regular season, the 11-point win Thursday would give the tie breaker to the Lady Tigers. Also lurking right behind is Oxford with two region losses.
Hernando opened with a 12-11 lead after one quarter and had an 18-13 edge halfway through the second period of play. But the lead quickly ballooned to 27-13 as the teams headed to the locker room at half.
In the second half, the Lady Patriots started to crawl back into the game, trailing the Lady Tigers 33-24 after three quarters. But Hernando continued the attack, taking back a 12-point lead at 44-32 with 1:22 remaining in the game.
Fran Kelly led Hernando in scoring with 22 points, 14 of which were scored in the first half. Alicia Kautzky paced the Lady Patriots with 17 points and scored four three-pointers, one of which came in the fourth quarter and gave Lewisburg a program-record 145 treys for a regular season.
Hernando coach Blake Jones expressed satisfaction with his team’s defensive effort in the win.
“I think our defense played about as well as it has played all season,” Jones said.
Jones also credited the impact Kelly from her point guard position has had on his team’s success.
“She’s in the gym constantly, she never takes a day off even when we tell her to,” Jones said.
DeSoto County scoreboard
Thursday, Jan. 25
Prep boys basketball
Lewisburg 57, Hernando 44
Prep boys soccer
Lewisburg 2, Hernando 0
Prep girls basketball
Hernando 48, Lewisburg 37
Olive Branch 59, Lake Cormorant 40
Prep girls soccer
Hernando 0, Lewisburg 0 (Lewisburg wins in penalty kicks 3-2)
JUCO Men’s basketball
East Mississippi 98, Northwest 58
JUCO women’s basketball
Northwest 67, East Mississippi 53
Prep wrestling
Lewisburg 73, Starkville 0
Lewisburg 28, North Pontotoc 22
SPORTS ETC.: Some top powerlifting performances were reported in Region 1-6A and Region 1-7A meet action Thursday.
