McCOMB – McComb and Lawrence County split a Division 7-4A basketball double-header Tuesday night at McComb High School. In boys’ action, Hilton Harrell’s high-flying Tigers, one of Mississippi’s top high school teams, rolled to a 73-35 win over Pat Bridges’ Cougars.

In the girls’ game, Vicki Rutland’s LCHS Lady Cougars remained in the thick of the Division 7-4A race with a 38-25 win over Angelia Johnson’s Lady Tigers.

There wasn’t much drama for the boys. McComb jumped to a 19-2 lead after one quarter and never looked back on the way to improving its record to 21-1 on the season. The Tigers, one of the favorites to claim the 4A state title, remained unblemished and unchallenged in division play, improving to 7-0.

Antonio Johnson hit six 3-pointers en route to a game-high 19 points. Shemar Williams added 11. McComb’s early lead allowed Coach Harrell to substitute liberally throughout.

Keith Davis had 11 points and seven rebounds to lead Lawrence County. Keyshawn Feazell added four points, nine rebounds, and four assists. The Cougars fell to 9-15 overall, but at 5-2 in division play, LCHS still holds second place behind McComb.

The girls’ game was a low-scoring affair. Lawrence County led 24-12 at halftime and appeared to have the game in hand. The score got a bit tighter in the third quarter, however, as the Lady Cougars went stone cold, scoring only one point in the period. McComb cut the LCHS lead down to five points, but could get no closer.

Deneisha Dickson led Lawrence County with 12 points and seven rebounds. Chardonay Williams led McComb with six points.

Lawrence County improved to 8-18 overall, and 5-2 in Division 7-4A games.

LCHS will resume division action at South Pike on Friday while McComb will travel to Purvis.