Tuesday sports page: Quistor hoops sweep Gators, basketball all-stars named
Photo: Reece Garrison of Olive Branch tries to block a shot attempt from Lake Cormorant’s Jaydon Smith during Tuesday’s 67-56 Olive Branch boys basketball victory. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
Tuesday’s boys basketball meeting with the Lake Cormorant Gators at Olive Branch was a pairing between two top teams in Region 1-6A and two of the highly-ranked 6A teams in Mississippi. Both have been ranked among the top 10 in the state for 6A boys basketball.
Olive Branch would come away Tuesday with an 11-point, 67-56 victory over the Gators, a win that kept the Conquistadors undefeated in the region and at 16-4 overall, the Quistors’ sixth straight victory. Lake Cormorant dropped to 17-6 overall and had a seven-game win streak snapped.
Olive Branch took a 12-7 lead at the end of the first quarter but the Gators got within two points at 25-23 with just under two minutes left to play in the half. The Conquistadors led 30-28 at intermission.
The Gators continued to half difficulty taking a lead in the ball game, trailing 49-43 at the end of the third quarter and 51-46 with six and a half minutes remaining in the frame.
In the final quarter, the Quistors put another run together, but the Gators would use a corner three-pointer to get within 62-51 at the 2:50 mark of the contest ahead of the final 67-56 score.
Reece Garrison led all scorers with 18 points for Olive Branch in the victory and got help from King George with 12 and 11 more from Xavier Poplar.
The Gators had Jaydon Smith and Vernon Green III as their leading scorers, each with 17 points.
(G) Olive Branch 70, Lake Cormorant 45: A lengthy run of points in the fourth quarter put the game away for the Lady Quistors in what became a 25-point victory over the Lady Gators Tuesday evening.
Lake Cormorant had an early lead at 10-9 after one quarter but trailed the Lady Quistors 13-10 midway through the second quarter of play. Olive Branch increased the lead to 23-14 at halftime.
The nine-point Olive Branch advantage would remain at nine through three quarters, however an Olive Branch run of 12 straight points would result in a Lake Cormorant timeout, now trailing the Lady Quistors 59-37.
Gabrielle Bowen led all scorers for Olive Branch with 20 points, 11 of which came in the final eight minutes of the game. Vadaija Pimpton added 11 more. Isabella Conaway led Lake Cormorant in scoring with 14 points and Ka’Meria Kykendall added eight more.
Tuesday, Jan. 21
Prep boys basketball
- DeSoto Central 68, Lewisburg 32
- Hernando 87, Horn Lake 44
- Southaven 66, Oxford 62
- Olive Branch 67, Lake Cormorant 56
- Olive Branch: Reece Garrison-18, King George-12, Xavier Poplar-10
- Lake Cormorant: Jaydon Smith-17, Vernon Green III-17
- Grenada 62, Center Hill 54
- Lausanne Collegiate 67, Northpoint Christian 36
- Northpoint: Myles Colom-13
Prep girls basketball
- DeSoto Central 50, Lewisburg 39
- Hernando 58, Horn Lake 53
- Oxford 61, Southaven 27
- Olive Branch 70, Lake Cormorant 45
- Olive Branch: Gabrielle Bowen-20, Vadaija Pimpton-11
- Lake Cormorant: Isabella Conaway-14, Ka’Meria Kuykendall 8
- Grenada 65, Center Hill 55
- Center Hill: Madison Hughes 14, Kennedy Hulbert-13, Yazlyn Buffington-13
- Northpoint Christian 54, Lausanne Collegiate 24
- Northpoint: Londyn Griffin- 16, Sara Jane Stroud- 15, Nailah Herrera- 14, Lillie Milligan- 9
JUCO men’s basketball
- Holmes 77, Northwest 63
JUCO women’s basketball
- Holmes 62, Northwest 57
GARRISON, REED, KELLY AMONG BASKETBALL ALL-STARS
Two Olive Branch boys’ basketball players and a standout girls’ player from Hernando were named Tuesday to postseason all-star game rosters by the Mississippi Association of Coaches.
Reece Garrison, a 6-2 senior guard for the Quistors, was named to play in the annual Mississippi/Alabama All-Star game, set for Saturday, March 8 at the Mitchell Center on the campus of the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. Lorenzo Wright of Pascagoula is coaching the Mississippi team.
Teammate Vonkerius Reed of Olive Branch was named to play on the 5A/6A/7A North boys’ roster for the North-South All-Star games, which will take place March 15 at Mississippi College in Clinton.
Reed’s Olive Branch coaches, Eric Rombaugh and CJ Jeffries, will coach the North squad.
On the North 5A/6A/7A girls roster will be Fran Kelly of Hernando. Matt Wilbanks of Starkville is the head coach for the North squad.
HUSTLE FALL TO LEGENDS IN TEXAS
The Memphis Hustle (3-5) were defeated 113-104 by the Texas Legends (4-6) Monday afternoon to split the two-game series in Frisco, Texas, outside of Dallas.
Yuki Kawamura paced Memphis with 24 points, 14 assists and six steals. DJ Steward also scored 24 points, Miles Norris tallied 23 points and nine rebounds, and Armando Bacot added 11 points and 12 rebounds.Jarod Lucas scored 33 points off the bench to lead Texas.
The Hustle road trip continues as the team travels to Sioux Falls, S.D., to begin a back-to-back against the Skyforce on Friday, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon.
