The Selma Lady Saints controlled the pace of the game for a key area win, as they defeated the Demopolis Lady Tigers 47-28 at home on Tuesday.

Anthony Harris, head girls basketball coach of Selma (16-9, 4-1), said his team came in ready to play in Tuesday’s important area win.

“This is big and keeps us in second place behind Sumter Central. We go down there Friday night and hopefully we can tie it up,” Harris said. “It was a big game and we looked for them to come in here and fight real hard. We had an old, stomp down, drag out fight practice the day before and pushed them hard. We didn’t talk about the importance of this game, they knew. Overall, we played good defense, we communicated, we ran the floor, and we got some easy layups on them.”

The Lady Saints took a 19-11 lead into the half, but pushed their lead to double digits in the third, as they opened the quarter with a 9-1 run that included a pair of baskets by Areyanna Williams, a shot by Kendra McCovery and a 3-pointer by Takeesha Wilson that made it a 28-12 game with 6:11 left in the third.

Demopolis answered back with a free throw by Alexis Jones and two baskets by Jonniece Collins to make it 28-17, but Wilson and Brenna Porter each scored for the Lady Saints, extending their lead to 32-17 with 40 seconds left in the third.

The Lady Tigers closed the quarter on a high note, as Collins scored the basket and got the foul to make it a 32-20 game going into the fourth.

Demopolis was able to cut the Lady Saints’ lead to 38-28 with the help of a pair of threes by Sha’Deitra White, but Porter hit a mid-range shot that sparked a 9-0 run to close the game for Selma.

Collins led Demopolis with 12 points, while Jones had 6 points for the Lady Tigers.

Porter had 9 points and 8 rebounds, while Wilson added 7 points for the Lady Saints.

McCovery led the Lady Saints with 19 points and 7 steals, and Harris said she displayed great toughness and leadership in the win.

“Kendra McCovery, she played good. As a senior, she stepped up despite having a sprained thumb and a sprained hand on the same hand,” Harris said, “but she just played like a warrior tonight and they all played super tonight.”

The Lady Saints will take the floor again on Friday at Sumter Central starting at 5 p.m. with a chance to tie for first place in the area and chance to host the area tournament on the line.

 

Demopolis 49, Selma 39

The Selma High School Saints boys basketball team (7-15) lost 49-39 to Demopolis at home on Tuesday in area play.

Devontae Rembert led the Saints with 12 points and 9 rebounds, while Kahmaul Jones had 11 points and 14 rebounds for Selma.