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Here is a late Christmas gift from Oxford High School to all you basketball fans.

Some of the state’s top talent will emerge on the Oxford High School gymnasium this Friday and Saturday for the O-Town Showdown.  Six games are on tap for Friday and seven for Saturday, but the beauty of it all — you can see all of the action for the bargain basement price of five dollars per day.

Friday

12:30 Myrtle vs Olive Branch (G)
2:00 DeSoto Central vs Grenada (G)
3:30 DeSoto Central vs Grenada (B)
5:00 Pontotoc vs Pascagoula (B)
6:30 Oxford vs Senatobia (G)
8:00 Oxford vs Columbia (B)

Columbia (12-1, #1 team in 3A) replaces Chapel Hill out of Douglasville, GA whose entire team has been suspended for unspecified reasons.  The team will remain suspended until further investigation by the school’s principal.

Saturday

11:30 Grenada vs Myrtle (G)
1:00 Pascagoula vs Starkville (B)
2:30 Grenada vs Columbia (B)
4:00 Olive Branch vs Senatobia (G)
5:30 Pontotoc vs DeSoto Central (B)
7:00 Oxford vs DeSoto Central (G)
8:30 Oxford vs Manassas (B)

Manassas is led by Ole Miss committ Reginald Buckner. The 6′9  Buckner is consider by many publications as one of the top recruits in the nation.  Ole Miss fans can flock to OHS to see their future star in action on Saturday, but you may want to get their early as there will be limited seating on a day filled with great basketball action.

Coach of the Year:  Mike Ray – Calhoun City
Player of the Year: Brandon Lawrence – Calhoun City
Offensive Player of the Year: Gene Ruth – Vardaman
Defensive Player of the Year: Demarcus Hykes – Okolona

Offense

QB – JR Jennings – Calhoun City

RB – Richard Freelon – Bruce
RB – Jarvis Rounds – Calhoun City

FB – Kent Stafford – Calhoun City

WR – Demarius Howard – Calhoun City
WR – Malcolm Hogan – Houston

OL – Dustin Carr – Bruce
OL – Avery Gates – Houston
OL – Josh Buchanan – Okolona
OL – Wes Parker – Vardaman
OL – Ken Downs – Calhoun City

Defense

DL – Jeremy Penson – Vardaman
DL – Rokedrick Mays – Calhoun City
DL – Martavious Ford – Okolona

LB – Kevin Barnette – Vardaman
LB – Corey Volyes – Houston
LB – Jacob Samuell – Bruce
LB – Taylor Threadgill – Calhoun City

DB – Lemario Steen – Bruce
DB – Demarcus Clemons – Vardaman
DB – Erick Lofton – Calhoun Academy
DB – Aaron Thompson – Calhoun City

P – Justin Floyd – Calhoun City

All Purpose

ATH – Curtis Lyons – Bruce
ATH – Jacob Long – Houston
ATH – Xavier Humphries – Vardaman

Honorable Mention

Blake Peden – Bruce
Tyler Hall – Bruce
Cleveland Freelon – Bruce

Steven Jackson – Calhoun Academy
Tyler Blount – Calhoun Academy
Allen Woodcock – Calhoun Academy

Colby Hamilton – Calhoun City
Tae Lawrence – Calhoun City
Marcquez Jones – Calhoun City
Raheem Roberson – Calhoun City

DeAndre Allen – Houlka
Justin Crenshaw – Houlka
Brandon Isabell – Houlka
Brandon Griffis – Houlka
James Staton – Houlka

Reggie Buchanan – Houston
Will Kirby – Houston
Shaqulle Vance – Houston

Jay Buchanan – Okolona
Zack Brooks – Okolona
Markos Wear – Okolona
Ryan Isabell – Okolona
Marcus Moore – Okolona
Antwan Ivy – Okolona

Willie Lee – Vardaman
Octavious McKinney – Vardaman
Arsenio Lee – Vardaman
Jordan Inman – Vardaman

Vardaman will take on West Point for the girls’ championship while Caledonia will try to successfully defend their crown against Bruce in the boys’ championship game on Friday.

West Point 65 Calhoun City 64 (G)

Kelsie Ewings had only scored 12 points through three and a half quarters of play, but exploded for 16 points in the final four minutes of the game to give the West Point Lady Green Wave the 65-64 victory over the Calhoun City Wildcats.

The Lady Wave battled their way back from 19 down to make it a 64-63 game in favor of Calhoun City after Ewings connected on back-to-back three-pointers in the closing moments of the game.

Calhoun City missed a pair of free-throws and were whistled for a questionable foul trying to trap Ewings on the sidelines near mid-court with 11 seconds left in the game.  Ewings stepped to the line and knocked down both free throws to give her team the two-point edge.

The Lady Cats appeared set to tie the game when a backdoor cut to the basket was wide open, but a bad pass went out of bounds giving the ball back to West Point with 4.3 seconds left on the clock.

Game over?  Not yet.

Calhoun City forced a five second violation when the Lady Wave failed to find anyone open not wanting to risk a turnover on inbounds the pass near the Lady Cats basket, but unfortunately for City the ensuing inbounds play saw the ball sail out of bounds with 2.4 seconds left in the game.

West Point threw over the top of the press and ran the clock out to escape with the 65-64 victory.

Ewings led all scorers with 28, Kourtney Couley 20, and Kira Edwards added 11 points for West Point.  Ebony Williams led Calhoun City with 23 while DiDi Miller scored 14 points.

Bruce 76 Calhoun City 67 (B)

The Trojans avenged an 111-109 triple overtime loss to Calhoun City earlier in the season by handing the Wildcats a 76-67 loss in the semi-final round of the Tater Tournament on Tuesday.

Shaunvanta Ingram led all scorers with 28 points including going 11-of-11 from the free throw line, but it was the 12-point effort from Marcell Gaston in the third quarter that proved to the decisive factor that put the Trojans in Friday’s championship game.

Calhoun City tried three different defenders to slow down Gaston, but the senior would not be denied as he bullied his way through the paint for easy baskets and rebounds to give the Trojans a 54-43 lead heading into the final frame after trailing 34-29 at halftime.

Bruce raced their way out to a 16-point lead early in the fourth, but Calhoun City made it a 10-point game with just less than two minutes to play.  The Trojans matched the Cats in the final minutes of the game to hold on for the 76-67 victory.

Ingram led all scorers with 28, Devin Tillman 20, and Gaston 18 for Bruce.  Dylan Turner paced the Wildcats with 17, Demarius Howard 12, and Brandon Lawrence added 11 points.

In other tournament action.

Bruce 49 Caledonia 29 (G)

The Lady Trojans used a score by committee approach to their elimination game against Caledonia and it worked.  Eight different players put points on the board for Bruce as their in-your-face pressure defense created easy scoring opportunities all game long.

Bruce outscored the Lady Feds 12-4 in the second quarter to take a 23-11 lead at the break.  Caledonia trimmed the 12-point edge down to 30-23 by the end of the third before Bruce put the game away by forcing the Lady Feds into numerous turnovers in the fourth.

Soria Blanch led all scorers with 14 while Jasmine Hampton led Bruce in scoring with 11 points.

West Point 71 Vardaman 45 (B)

West Point got things started in a hurry against a shorthanded Rams squad as do-it-all senior Serigo Prescott sat out majority of the first half due to an altercation with head coach Billy Dill in the late stages of the Caledonia game on Monday.

All put one player on the Green Wave roster scored in the contest with Michael Carr leading the way with 13 while Curtis Hall and Jorelle Terry added 10 points each.  Prescott paced the Rams with 19 points.

Friday Schedule

12:00 – Calhoun City vs Bruce (G)
1:30 – Calhoun City vs West Point (B)

Championships

3:00 – Vardaman vs West Point (G)
4:30 – Caledonia vs Bruce (B)

Bruce’s Demetric Evans and Vardaman’s Casey High combined to score 5 of the 447 total points on Monday, but they were the biggest baskets of the opening round of the Tater Tournament.

Shaunvanta Ingram sparked the Trojans with 25 of 29 in the second half

Bruce 55 West Point 52 (B)

All eyes were on Shaunvanta Ingram with the game tied 52-52 in the final seconds of the game, but he was only a decoy.

The play was designed to go to Devin Tillman, but the ball ended up in the hands of Evans who quickly launched a shot from NBA range that hit nothing-but-net.  Evans’ lone basket of the night gave the Trojans a 55-52 lead with the clock showing nine-tenth of a second remaining.

“Tillman was suppose to be shooting the ball, but they were playing him pretty good,” Evans.  “ He ended up getting me the ball and I just put it up cause I knew time was running out.”

“I tell the guys anytime they get a good luck to take it… Demetric ended up getting the ball with a good look and knocked it down,” Coach Willie Ray Brown.

A quick decision between the officials after a West Point timeout added two-seconds to the clock giving the Green Wave a slim glimmer of hope for overtime, but Michael Carr’s three-pointer came up short allowing the Trojans to celebrate the 55-52 victory.

“West Point has a great team… our guys hustled and fought real hard to get this real big win for us,” Brown.

Ingram led all scorers with 29 points despite only scoring 4 in the first half and Marcell Gaston added 10 for the Trojans.  Curtis Hall led West Point with 13 while the Trojan defense held Carr to 2 points in the contest.

Casey High's basket late in the game put the Lady Rams in the championship game against the winner between Calhoun City and West Point

Vardaman 55 Caledonia 47 (G)

Casey High slipped behind the press for a lay-up that proved to be the straw that broke the Lady Confederates back and put the Lady Rams into the girls’ championship game on Friday.

A Caledonia turnover allowed the Lady Rams to get the ball with a 49-47 lead with just over a minute to play.  The Lady Feds turned up the pressure in the front court allowing High to sneak down floor for Vardaman to throw over the top of the press for her only basket of the game and the 51-47 lead.

Rasheika Thompson and Kelsey Nelson took care of business from the free-throw line in the final seconds of the game to give the Lady Rams the 55-47 victory.

Thompson scored 16, Nelson and Jicobe Jones added 14 each for Vardaman.  Soria Blach of Caledonia led all scorers with 24 points.

In other tournament action.

The West Point Lady Green Wave had no problem with the Bruce Lady Trojans while the Caledonia Confederates held off a late game rally from the Vardaman Rams to advance to the Friday’s championship game.

West Point 81 Bruce 55 (G)

Kelsei Ewings scored 35 points as the Lady Waves ran away from the Lady Trojans, literally.

Ewings scored 13 points in the first quarter on numerous transition baskets to give West Point a 22-10 edge and added another 10 points in the second as the Lady Wave went into halftime with a 47-16 lead.  The Lady Trojans got things going in the third by outscoring West Point 24-17 to make it a 64-40 game, but the hole proved too big to climb out of as the Lady Wave cruised to the 81-55 victory.

Ewings led all scorers with 35, Yakira Edwards 16, and Kourtney Crowley added 14 points for West Point.  Morgan Vickery and Lesley Wayne each led Bruce with 11 while Jasmine Hampton and Ranesha Stokes both added 10 points a piece.

Caledonia 55 Vardaman 47 (B)

Rickey McCollum sealed the victory for the Confederates with a thunderous dunk that sent the crowd into a frenzy and put Caledonia in Friday’s Boys Championship game against the winner between Bruce and Calhoun City.

Vardaman fought back from a 22-17 halftime deficit to make it a 41-39 ballgame heading into the final frame of play.  The two teams flip flopped the lead back-and-forth until McCollum got back-to-back baskets off a pair of Ram turnovers before putting the exclamation mark on the victory with the slam.

McCollum led all scorers with 14 while Curtis Fluke, Delano Davis, and Gavin Coleman scored 11 points each for Caledonia.  Sergio Prescott scored 13 and Gene Ruth added 12 for the Rams.

Tuesday’s Schedule

3:00 – Bruce vs Caledonia (G) – elimination game
4:30 – Vardaman vs West Point (B) – elimination game
6:00 – West Point vs Calhoun City (G)
7:30 – Bruce vs Calhoun City (B)

Girls

1. HW Byers
2. Tupelo
3. Houston
4. New Albany
5. Aberdeen
6. Myrtle
7. Itawamba AHS
8. Oxford
9. Alcorn Central
T10. New Site
T10. West Union

Dropped Out: none

Boys

1. Starkville
2. Oxford
3. Nettleton
4. Tupelo
5. Shannon
6. Aberdeen
7. West Point
8. Myrtle
9. Baldwyn
10. South Pontotoc

Dropped Out: none

Malcolm Hogan drives by the Trojan defender - photo Cortez Moss

Houston’s game plan on Saturday called for playing defense by committee when it came to guarding Bruce’s point machine – Shaunvanta Ingram.

“We’re pretty quick,” Houston coach Bruce Franks said. “We didn’t want to let him get feeling too good about himself. If he does, he can get a basket full.”

Malcolm Stanfield, Kirby Jones, Xavier Cousins and a host of others made Ingram earn every one of his 20 points in the Hilltoppers’ 92-64 win against Bruce in the annual Curtis Loggins Classic.

Click here to read more from Gene Phelps of the Daily Journal about games from Loggins Classic.

High School basketball action from across the state

Brandon Speck: ‘Bulldog Basketball’ wins battles of champs, Aberdeen 57 New Hope 56

David Wheeler: Not so classic for Bearcats, Ripley 62 Baldwyn 55

Gene Phelps: Late run decisive in ‘Best’ battle, Oxford 69 Aberdeen 56

Clarion Ledger: JPS Pepsi Holiday Tournament Update

Todd Kelly: Wildcats edge closer to JPS title

Todd Kelly: Andre the Giant, Forest Hill 105 Meridian 101

Lee Chambers had one of his best games of the season in the Miami Hurricanes’ 24-17 loss to California in the Emerald Bowl.  The Coffeeville native finished with 60 yards on 9 carries along with his first reception of the season going for 4 yards.

AP: Cal freshman’s 1st catch wins Emerald Bowl

Chambers finished the season with 116 yards on 18 carries and 4 yards on 1 reception.

Lee Chambers Bio

Loggins Classic – Calhoun City High School

Boys Scores

Nettleton 87  Charleston 67

(N) Jamal Farr – 19
(C) Jerry Richardson – 22

Vardaman 66 Amory 60

(V) Sergio Prescott – 27
(A) Brandon Anderson – 15

Aberdeen 57 New Hope 56

(A) Earnest Williams – 12
(NH) Johnathan Brandon – 28

Okolona 64 Kosciusko 62

(O) Marquez Conway – 24
(K) Trey Boyd – 11

Houston 92 Bruce

(H) Evander Wooford – 24
(B) Shaunvanta Ingram – 20

Shannon 79 Calhoun City 69

(S) Denardo Watkins – 25
(CC) Demarius Howard – 16

W07BN All-Classic Teams

First team

Marquez Conway – Okolona (MVP)
Denardo Watkins – Shannon
Evander Wofford – Houston
Sergio Prescott – Vardaman
Jamal Farr – Nettleton

Second Team

Shaunvanta Ingram – Bruce
Johnathan Brandon – New Hope
Jerry Richardson – Charleston
Shad Pargo – Aberdeen
Ricky Kern – Kosciusko

More scores from Saturday

Boys

Saltillo 72 Mantachie 62
Itawamba AHS 64 New Site 61
Ripley 62 Baldwyn 55
South Pontotoc 60 East Webster 45

Girls

Saltillo 52 Mantachie 40
Itawamba AHS 46 New Site 42
Ripley 66 Baldwyn 36
Pine Grove 58 Pontotoc 52
Oxford 67 Alcorn Central 54

Will Kollmeyer/ICC

Itawamba Community College sophomore Jason Marks has signed his national letter of intent to play basketball next year at Southeastern Louisiana. The lone returning starter for ICC head coach Marty Cooper’s 30-4 squad that finished fifth in the nation a year ago, decided on the Lions, who compete in the Southland Conference.

“I really believe Southeastern Louisiana is a really good fit for me,” said Marks, who has started in each of the Indians first 12 games this year.  “I’ve signed with good people who are also good coaches who can help me when I’m finished playing basketball.”

Marks is averaging 11 points and a team-best eight rebounds per night.  The former all-state selection at Parkview High School in Little Rock, Arkansas also leads the team in assists at 3.5 per contest and in free throw shooting at 83 percent (35-42) up from 5 percent a year ago.  Marks is also averaging a steal a game and his shooting 54 percent from the field for the preseason No. 12 ranked Indians.

“Jason is like a coach on the court for us,” said Cooper, whose current squad is 9-3 on the year and winners of its last six games. “I agree with Jason and think it’s a perfect fit for him and I think he’s a guy that can contribute right away for them.”

Last year the 6’5, 191 pound wing player, averaged six points, four and a half rebounds, two and a half assists and two steals a game, while shooting 57.5% from the field for the MACJC state champion Indians.

Daily Journal Reports: Texas Tech signs ICC Forward Theron Jenkins