The Winona girls basketball team stretched its winning streak to seven games with victories over Kemper County, Eupora and J.Z. George before losing to 6A power Oxford.
The Lady Tigers defeated Kemper County 51-41, Eupora 44-27 and J.Z. George 45-20.
Winona led Kemper County by two points through three quarters, but pulled away by outscoring the Lady Wildcats 15-7 the final period. “We came out real lackluster,” said coach Frank Miller. “We turned it on the fourth quarter. We got some shots to go down and we defended them better.”
MyCala Helms led the Lady Tigers with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Tommesha Brown and Tyra Weathersby scored 12 points each and Tatyana Womack had six assists.
Winona jumped out to double digit halftime leads against Eupora (26-11) and J.Z. George (26-12) and was not challenged in the second half.
“We played really well in the first half. It was probably the best half we have played this year,” Miller said of the Eupora game.
Brown had 14 points, Weathersby 12 and Womack 9. Brown was the only Lady Tiger in double figures against J.Z George with 17 points and she was the team’s high scorer in a 50-16 loss to Oxford with five points.
Boys
The Tigers defeated J.Z. George 66-52, but lost the other three games, 78-32 against Kemper County, 61-53 against Eupora and 79-48 against Oxford.
Freshman Jekeyvion Burnley was a bright spot against Kemper County, coming off the bench to hit four of five shots. It was his first action of the season after playing football. Jalen Daniels led the Tigers in scoring with 9 points and rebounding with 11.
The Eupora game was close most of the way. “We led in the second quarter,” coach Presley Coleman said. “But in the second half, we couldn’t get stops and we struggled to score.”
Daniels had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists and Sean Merritt 13 points and 8 rebounds.
“I’m proud of how hard we played,” Coleman said of the J.Z. George game. “Robert McMath had a break out game.”
McMath had 13 points on 6 of 11 shooting and 5 rebounds. Daniels had 15 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists and James Shelton scored 15 points.
Coleman was also pleased with the team’s performance against Oxford. The Tigers led early, trailed by 18 at the half, but cut the deficit to single digits in the third quarter before Oxford pulled away. “Oxford has one of the best basketball programs in the state. Late in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter their talent just sort of took over.”
The boys and girls played Calhoun City Tuesday, will be on the road Friday against Charleston Friday and begin Region 5-3A play Monday with a home game against Forest.
