MONTICELLO – Exciting! That’s the term used for thefinal round of the 2001 version of the Lawrence County Round-RobinTournament.

It got so exciting that the final game of the nightbetween Class 4A rivals Lawrence County and Mendenhall, a set ofgym lights unexpectedly blew a fuse as tipoff began. The home-basedCougars didn’t let a pair of lights spoil their fun as they claimedboth the girls and boys tournament championships.

The Lawrence County girls beat Mendenhall 59-57 and theLawrence boys prevailed 64-51. Franklin County won the openers overPrentiss as the girls won 63-56 and the boys romped58-34.

The Lady Cougars (10-7) began their game againstMendenhall already crowned tournament champions. That didn’t keepthe Lady Tigers of Mendenhall from bowing down as they took controlof the first frame action 14-13.

In the second quarter, the Lady Cougars went to theirinside game as Stephanie Dexter and Andrella Pierre blasted theTigers with numerous layups and tipins for the 30-24 halftimelead.

In the second half the Lady Cougars kept their rough andtough paint show alive, holding off a late Lady Tigerrally.

“Our girls played well,” said Lady Cougar coach ArchieRoss. “We had a great effort tonight. Mendenhall gave us problemsall game long, and we still hung in there and got the jobfinished.”

With the win the Lady Cougars were crowned champions,while Franklin County finished second and Mendenhallthird.

In the boys championship, the Lawrence County Cougarsquickly silenced a rowdy and hyped Mendenhall squad with sharpshooting from guard Nick Mikell.

Mikell, a six-foot senior, blasted the Tigers (16-6) with 21points and five assists en route to a 64-51 decision.

The Cougars (17-2) started the game with strong physical playfrom all five starters, leading the Tigers 19-12 after one. TheCougars kept their offensive and defensive balance together as theyheld a 33-24 lead going into the break.

The Tigers tried to get back in the ball game in the second halfbut the Cougars kept answering each Tiger basket with one of theirown to savor the tournament final championship.

“I’m glad we won,” said Cougar coach Bobby Lee.

Helping the Cougars in the victory was senior forward Tim Hortonwith 14 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Steve Atterberrychipped in with nine points, nine rebounds, three assists, and twosteals.

For the Tigers, 6-7 sophomore center Emanuel Willis led with 17points, 21 rebounds, seven blocks, and two assists. Senior guardJames Hobbs finished with 15 points, six rebounds, and threesteals.

Franklin County Wins

The early games featured another Carletta Brown scoring spree asshe netted 34 points and collected seven steals, five assists, andthree rebounds.

Brown’s Dawgs overwhelmed the Jefferson Davis County rivalPrentiss early with numerous treys and layups en route tovictory.

In the second half Brown put on a show, blasting Prentiss withnumerous steals and treys to secure the Lady Dawgs (4-9) victorycelebration.

In the boys game, Franklin County shockedPrentiss with overwhelming pressure defense, en route to claiming avictory.

The Bulldogs of Franklin County took off from the start assenior power forward Grant Rogers calmed the air with a thunderousdunk to set the tone for the Bulldogs during the rest of the game.The Dawgs led 36-14 after one quarter of action.

In the second quarter the Dawgs looked to their impressivepressure defense, holding Prentiss scoreless the entirequarter.

In the third quarter the Dawgs went to their two guard seniortandem in Demetrice Weathersby and Kedric Covington for numeroussteals and treys, in savoring hard fought victory.

“We made some mistakes that we shouldn’t of made,” said Bulldogcoach Chris Jordan. “Overall our defense played well.”

The Dawgs were led by senior guard/forward Logan Jones with 17points, nine rebounds, and two steals. Rogers netted nine pointsand collected 13 rebounds and two steals. Weathersby had 14 points,five assists, and three steals. Covington finished with sevenassists, four points, and two steals.

For Prentiss, freshmen center Al Jefferson led the Bulldogattack with 11 points, six rebounds, and two blocks.

GIRLS

Lawrence County 59, Mendenhall 57

Mendenhall (57) Sayta Bridges 18, Walker 10, Davis 3,Smith 4, Rankin 16, James 5, Hobbs 5.

Lawrence County (59) Andrella Pierre 14, Cowart 2,Warner 10, Feazell 5, Oatis 2, Leis 6, Dexter 10, Peyton9.

Total Fouls: Mendenhall 18. Lawrence 21. Fouledout-Hobbs.

Free Throws M-A: Mendenhall 13-23. Lawrence16-36.

3-point goals: Bridges 4, Walker, Feazell.

Mendenhall 14 10 14 19 -57

Lawrence Co. 13 17 15 14 – 59

Franklin County 63, Prentiss 56

Franklin Co. (63) Carletta Brown 34, Smith 10, D. Gant13, S. Gant 2, Huff 2, Gills 2.

Prentiss (56) Ilshia Newsome 18, Daials 12, Williams 6,Holloway 2, Payne 4, Otis 1, Holloway 3, Ross 5.

Total fouls: Franklin 17. Prentiss 15. Fouledout-none.

Free Throws M-A: Franklin 11-15. Prentiss6-16.

3-point goals: Brown 3, D. Gant, Daials.

Franklin Co. 14 16 20 13 -63

Prentiss 11 12 11 22 -58

BOYS

Franklin County 58, Prentiss 34

Prentiss (34) Al Jefferson 11, Flowers 9, Kemp 5,Johnson 5, Davey 4.

Franklin Co. (34) Logan Jones 17, Weathersby 14, Rogers9, Covington 4, Brown 2, Wilcher 7, Wallace 5.

Total fouls: Prentiss 14. Franklin 13. Fouled out-none.Technicals-Black and Pittman of Prentiss.

Free Throws M-A: Prentiss 4-13. Franklin4-10.

3-point goals: Weathersby 4, Jones 3, Kemp.

Prentiss 14 0 10 10 – 34

Franklin Co. 20 16 11 11 -58

Lawrence County 64, Mendenhall 51

Mendenhall (51) Emanuel Willis 17, Hubburt 5, Dixon 6,Hobbs 15, Smith 2, Lockhart 6.

Lawrence Co. (64) Nick Mikell 21, Atterberry 9, Horton14, Bridges 10, Sims 3, Johnson 1, Starks 6.

Total fouls: Mendenhall 16. Lawrence 25. Fouledout-Johnson, Hubburt.,

Free Throws M-A: Mendenhall 14-23. Lawrence14-21.

3-point goals: Mikell 4, Atterberry 2, Starks 2, Horton2, Dixon.

Mendenhall 12 12 14 13 -51

Lawrence Co. 19 14 15 16 -64

ALL-TOURNAMENT GIRLS TEAM

Lawrence County: Tammy Feazell, Stephanie Dexter,Andrella Pierre, Jackie Oatis. Mendenhall: Sayata Bridges.Prentiss: Felecia Oatis. Franklin County: Dedrie Gant, CarlettaBrown.

ALL-TOURNAMENT BOYS TEAM

Lawrence County: Tim Horton, Darius Starks, Nick Mikell.Mendenhall: James Hobbs, Joey Dixon, Don Lockhart. Franklin County:Logan Jones, Grant Rogers. Prentiss: James Pittman, JosephFlowers.