Meridian holds off Itawamba

By Jamie Wachter / Sports Writer

CLINTON — When Sharda’e Johnson took a 3-pointer with 1:31 left and Meridian Community College clinging to an 82-79 lead, Lady Eagles coach Hilary Allen knew the season was on the line.

The 5-foot-9 freshman drilled the trey and propelled MCC to an 87-79 win Tuesday night at Mississippi College’s A. E. Wood Coliseum in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament.

“To be honest with you, when that ball was in the air I said, ‘This is the season right here. We win or our season is over on this shot,’” Allen said. “They had been so hot, that if she didn’t make it that they had chances with those 3-point shooters.”

The 22-8 Lady Eagles, who face No. 9 Copiah-Lincoln in the regional semifinals today at 8 p.m., raced out to a 46-36 lead at the half and stretched it to as many as 16 points in the second half. However, the Lady Indians (21-7) nailed four straight 3-pointers in the next 4 minutes to pull within 68-62 with 8:55 left on Jessica Collins’ lone trifecta.

Back in the game, ICC would get three straight buckets within a minute to get within three at the 4:23 mark to set up Johnson’s heroics.

“Sharda‘e has just come out of nowhere practically,” Allen said, adding that she is averaging in double digits since moving into the starting lineup 10 games ago.

While Johnson scored 11 of her 20 points in the second half, the Lady Eagles flew out to their lead behind freshman forward LaQuita Burrough and sophomore guard Tiara Parker.

Burrough, who entered averaging just 9.3 points per game, scored 14 of MCC’s first 24 points, capped by a 3-pointer with 11:13 remaining in the first half to give the Lady Eagles a 27-21 lead. Despite foul trouble, Burrough would score 22 points, to tie with Parker for the team-high.

“Obviously, we were looking for a very quick start to this game, an important game for us, and LaQuita Burrough comes off and puts up 14 points in the first half in no more than 8 to 10 minutes in the half,” Allen added. “That was obviously a key for us.”

Where Burrough left off, the former Meridian High star picked up. Parker, a do-it-all 5-foot-6 sophomore, would add 11 points in the last 10 minutes of the half. After the Lady Indians closed with 33-30 with 6 minutes left before the intermission, Parker followed a 3-pointer with a steal and layup to provide breathing room for MCC.

“I couldn‘t go anywhere with this team without talking about Tiara Parker,” Allen said. “She handles the ball, she plays defense, she makes the passes and when we need someone in the clutch, she’s going to make free throws and she’s going to make shots. That was super.”

The only thing slowing down the Lady Eagles in the first half was free-throw shooting. MCC converted just 12 of 22 from the charity stripe in the opening half before going 7-for-8 in the second half to hold off ICC, which was led by Sanqueeta Meardith’s 22 points. Ashley Benford added 20 for the Lady Indians, nailing four 3-pointers.