McCOMB – A pair of the top teams in Southwest Mississippi met inthe Tigers Den, as Lawrence County and McComb renewed theirDivision 6-4A rivalry before a near-capacity crowd of 600 Tuesdaynight. Huge scoring spurts played key roles in both games.

The Lawrence County Cougars used a suffocating defense to createtheir offense; to the tune of a 67-59 upset win over the McCombTigers.

McComb (18-2, 3-1) came into the game ranked fifth in the state,second in Class 4A and first in the Southwest MS Prep Sports SuperSeven boys poll. Lawrence County (13-5, 3-1) was ranked fourth inSouthwest Mississippi.

The McComb Lady Tigers opened their game with a 15-0 run, andnever looked back, taking a 67-35 win over the Lawrence County LadyCougars. The Lady Tigers occupy the No. 2 slot in the Southwest MSgirls rankings.

Both teams continue in Division 6-4A action. Lawrence Countytravels to Mendenhall next Tuesday, while McComb goes to PortGibson Friday.

Lawrence County 67, McComb 59

“Our guards played well tonight,” said first-year Cougar headcoach Preston Wilson. “Our transition defense got us going.”

It did not appear that way in the early going, as the Tigerstook a 21-14 lead into the second quarter. Senior forwardRoteddrick Cotton tossed in 10 points in the opening period, off ofnumerous backdoor layups and offensive putbacks.

The Cougars roared back in a mighty way in the second,outscoring McComb 22-4 for a 36-25 Lawrence County advantage at theintermission. Senior guards Dominique West (6), Oliver Peyton (6)and forward Albert Brown (8) carried LCHS during the second.

McComb Tiger head coach Hilton Harrell’s squad would not go awayeasily. A 19-10 Tiger third stanza saw McComb cut the deficit to 2points, 46-44, entering the final frame. Several times in thesecond half, the Tigers claimed the lead over LCHS; but poorball-handling by McComb would aid the Cougars in the big win.

“Take nothing away from Lawrence County, they have a good team,”said Harrell. “They played good defense and took advantage of ourmistakes.”

Lawrence County drew 8 player-control fouls on the Tigers,scoring 14 points. The Cougars also scored another 19 points off of17 McComb turnovers.

“We were careless with the basketball tonight,” added Harrell.”We took a lot of bad shots.”

Cotton paced McComb with 23 points and 2 steals. Otis Smithtossed in 12 points and 8 rebounds. DeFreddrick White and ChrisAnazia each dished out 2 assists. Anazia also had 5 rebounds and 2steals.

West led Wilson’s Cougars with 23 points and 8 rebounds. Peytonfollowed with 17 points and 7 assists. Brown pumped 16 points.Cayce Lee had 2 steals.

McComb outrebounded LCHS 22-19, but the Cougars won the assistbattle 11-6. Lawrence County committed 11 turnovers.

McComb 67, Lawrence County 35

The Lady Tigers (15-4, 4-0) hit their first 7 shots from thefield, en route to a 15-0 jaunt to open the game; behind the torridshooting of Alisha Rayborn, Portia Craft, April Johnson andCarishian Patterson. McComb used that momentum to take a 20-4 leadinto the second period.

Lawrence Co. (1-17, 0-4) opened the second with a 7-0 run, tocut their deficit to 9 points at 20-11. That would be as close asthe Lady Cougars would get.

McComb, coached by Angela Johnson, used a 13-6 spurt to enterthe halftime break with a 33-17 cushion.

“McComb had too much speed for us,” said second-year LCHS headcoach Vicki Rutland. “We did play well in spurts tonight. We havehad some injuries lately.”

The Lady Tigers used a 21-7 third period to put the game away.McComb scored at will off of 30 Lawrence County turnovers.

Craft led all scorers with 17 points and 3 steals for McComb.Rayborn added 14 points, 3 steals and 6 assists. CarishianPatterson pumped in 11 points and had 5 steals. April Johnson had 3steals and 2 assists.

Lawrence County got 7 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists fromFiere Brown. Candice Little had 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists.The Lady Cougars held a 22-16 edge on the boards.