For the second consecutive game, the McComb girls received a tough test and found the right formula to prevail. This time the challenge came from Lanier as the Tigers shut down a late Bulldog rally preserving a 54-49 victory Tuesday night.
“It was about our defense, we turned up our defense,” McComb head coach Charlton Grey said. “We added some energy to what we were already doing. We figured it out, wanted it and got it.”
And just like the game last Friday against North Pike, the Tigers got a big contribution from junior Kinesha Harris, who finished with a team-high 18 points, including four makes from beyond the 3-point arc. In addition to Harris’ four makes, Allaijah Gamble also made four and Evelle Dillon provided one.
“We put up more shots in practice, Harris said. “We worked on it (3-pointers) because in the last game against North Pike, none of our shots were falling, so in this game we had to make up for it.”
That plan came to fruition right off the bat for the Tigers (9-3, 3-0).
Right after receiving the opening tip, Harris connected on her shot from beyond the arc.
During the next possession, she repeated the process, putting the hosts up 6-0 not even a minute into the game.
However, it did not take long for the Bulldogs to respond as they used a combination of their size in the interior and the 3-point shooting from Miesha Brown to grab a 21-17 lead at the end of the first quarter.
That deficit for McComb quickly grew to six in the early stages of the second quarter before the Tigers’ defense began to clamp down.
McComb’s offense struggled to follow suit until about the halfway point of the period, when Gamble and Harris nailed back-to-back 3-pointers, tying the game at 23.
Even though Lanier jumped back on top with a 3 of its own, McComb answered right back with Dillon’s make.
Trailing 30-27 at the half, Grey made some adjustments. The Tigers went on a 14-3 run in the third quarter, highlighted by seven points from Gamble, to take a 41-33 lead heading into the fourth.
From there, a big contribution from Harris, coupled with stellar defense from the Tigers, helped seal the win.
McComb loses steam late
Playing in their first full game without leading scorer Brodrick Thompson, the McComb boys struggled to find a consistent offense and fell to visiting Lanier 70-50 Tuesday night.
McComb head coach Karshae Peterson said Thompson will miss the remainder of the year after breaking his arm in Friday’s win over North Pike.
He added that not having Thompson on the floor is something that his team needs to quickly adjust to.
“As far as a mental standpoint, we still need some folks to step up,” he said. “We can play, but when push comes to shove, we need to learn to push back and take care of the ball.”
Without Thompson, the duo of Edric Spurlock and Isaac Gray took the reins for the Tigers (5-5, 1-2). They lead a 21-point first-quarter effort, helping to put McComb up by seven at the end of the first eight minutes of play. However the consistency dipped drastically in the second.
The Tigers were limited to just five points while the Bulldogs scored 19, putting McComb down 33-26 at the half.
While McComb continued to fight, getting a pair of baskets from Galvin Speight, they answered with a multitude of scores from Lanier who began to pull away.
Even though Jameer Lewis began to get into a groove in the fourth quarter, it wasn’t enough as the Tigers fell.
Lewis led McComb with 14 points while Gray and Speight each had 12.
