The Selma Times-Journal

Coach Willie Maxey Jr. and the Selma Saints (8-7, 3-1 Area) beat the Keith Bears 51-44 Tuesday night.

Michael Acoff was a force for the Saints, recording his first double-double of the year with 12 rebounds, 11 blocks and seven points.

Selma’s Cameron Turner finished the third quarter with a 360-degree layup to push the lead to a commanding 43-24.

Keith’s Gerald Matthews, who scored 12, answered with a 3-pointer.

Selma’s Chris Howard broke loose on an inbound pass for an easy two and a 49-32 lead.

Keith’s Alvin Jones (15 points) heated up and hit two 3s, and the Bears (2-13) made a run to cut the gap to 49-38.

Matthews stole the inbound pass and got a 12-foot jumper for a 49-40 deficit.

Deundre Benjamin (13 points, five rebounds) missed an alley-oop dunk, but got the rebound and putback.

Coach Anthony Harris and the Selma Saints (15-4, 4-1 Area) extended their home record to 36-1 after defeating Keith 55-33.

Senior Erica Lumpkin scored 21 points and 16 in the first half. In her four years at Selma Lumpkin has never lost to Keith, averaging 23 points per game.

At one point in the game, Keith was down 14, but came within eight at the half, 28-20.

In the third, Ashley Grimes (nine points) went coast-to-coast for two. Marina West (four points) threw a bullet pass to Lateasha Witherspoon (seven points), and Gabrielle Goudy scored on a three-point play top put Selma up 34-20.

Keith could manage only four third-quarter points.

Keith’s Shante’ Gooden (10 points) made a play down the stretch to score her final two points.

“We never take any team lightly,” Harris said. “Overall, we played pretty good. Maybe our mind was on Carver (Friday). But Keith had a pretty good squad. We’ve got to limit our turnovers.”

Goudy scored five points and had seven rebounds playing limited minutes because of nagging injuries.