CLINTON – Co-Lin’s quest for a NJCAA Region 23 Tournament titlescame to an end Wednesday night in the semifinals as the Wolves andLady Wolves were eliminated.

The Jones County Bobcats whipped the Wolves 92-75 and the EastCentral Lady Warriors clipped the Lady Wolves 74-71.

In the other elimination games, the Northwest Rangers dumpedHolmes 74-68 and the Lady Rangers thumped Pearl River 65-55.

Tonight’s championship games features the Northwest women vs.East Central at 6 p.m. followed by the Northwest men vs. JonesCounty at 8.

Jones County 92, Co-Lin 75

“I felt we were ready to play,” said Co-Lin men’s head coachDennis Sims. “In the first half, we played well. We hadopportunities to take advantage with Jones’ foul trouble. We didnot get our inside play in the first half. I still thought we werein good shape.”

The lead changed several times in the first half with Co-Lin upby nine points, 27-18, with 8:36 left. Jones battled back and wentup 44-43 with 41 seconds on the clock. Co-Lin’s Tony Thompson wasfouled attempting a three pointer at the buzzer and went 1 for-3 totie the game at 44 going into halftime.

The Wolves came out with a 6-0 run in the opening minutes to goup 50-44. The Bobcats came right back and went up by five points65-60 with 10:44 remaining to play. Rod Haynes hit a field goalwith 7:04 to cut the deficit to six points, 74-68. The Wolves hit acold spell and didn’t score again until the 2:07 mark when B.J.Black nailed a three-point play to cut the Bobcats lead to 14points, 85-71.

“The first eight minutes of the second half, we played well,”Sims added. “After that, Jones went up four points and we shutdown. Some (of our players) shut it down.”

The Wolves were missing freshman starting forward BrannonBarfield for the second straight game. Barfield was dismissed fromthe team Sunday for breaking campus rules.

Sophomore guard Scott Faulkner powered Jones County (21-10) with24 points, including six treys. LaCedrick Pettway netted 15 pointsand led off the backboards with 15 rebounds.. Derrick White scored13 points, followed by Omar Barlett with 12 points and Nick Pagewith 11 points.

For the 23-7 Wolves, sophomore guard Barry Whitley fired in 19points. Whitely also collected six rebounds, 4 steals and 10assists. Brandon Dickerson netted 13 points. B.J. Black and QuentinChristian had 10 points apiece. Christian scored his 10 points inthe second half. Lorenzo Townsend and Christian pulled down sixrebounds apiece.

East Central 74, Co-Lin 71

With 1:29 left in the game, East Central guard Nicole Cox nailedher fifth trey of the game to put the Lady Warriors on top 72-69.Co-Lin sophomore guard Denise Catchings scored on an offensiveputback to close the deficit to one point, 72-71 with 56 secondsremaining.

East Central ran time off the clock and forced Co-Lin to foul.Cox nailed two free throws to give the Lady Warriors a three point,74-71 lead. The Lady Wolves took the ball with 9.9 seconds showing.Sophomore guard Rusti Smith attempted a long trey that missed itsmark as time ran out.

“East Central played well defensively,” said Co-Lin women’s headcoach Gwyn Young. “We didn’t play our go-to game tonight. We didn’tmake the changes defensively when we could.”

Cox paced 21-5 East Central with 23 points. Margo Porter fired n20 points. Finishing with 10 points was Alberta Norman.

For the 24-2 Lady Wolves, freshman center Mindy Livaudais ledthe way with 23 points and six rebounds. Christy Brown netted 20points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Finishing with 10 points andsix rebounds was Rusti Smith.