MCC women roll into conference championship

By Dennis Watson/Special to The Star The Meridian Star

MERIDIAN —Second-seeded Meridian came out firing on all cylinders in the semifinal round of the Miss-Lou Conference Tournament at Graham Gymnasium.

The Eagles began the game on a 16-2 run against Delgado and led wire-to-wire to secure the victory 66-49, setting the table for a showdown against Baton Rouge for the conference tournament championship at 6 p.m. today.

The MCC women (22-6) rained 3-pointers from everywhere on the court in the first half. Shardae Johnson, Lakita Burroughs, and Tiara Logan all connected from long distance in the opening minutes of the contest.

“We are not really a 3-point shooting team,” said head coach Hillary Allen. “But we sure will take them when we can get them.”

MCC’s ability to knock down open jumpers early took a lot of pressure off of low post star LaDerrica Campbell.

“Campbell is our All-Conference player,” said Allen. “The outside shooting allowed her to establish a presence inside and forced Delgado not to double team her.”

Campbell scored on back-to-back possessions with turn around jump shots to extend MCC’s lead to 15.

Delgado did not go down without a fight as they trimmed the Eagle lead to as few as five and entered halftime trailing 38-27. Dolphin Jamie Ellis knocked down a couple of 3-pointers of her own to help her team climb back into the game.

But in the end it was too much MCC, as Johnson and Logan continued their hot shooting from the first half. The Eagles finished the game with nine triples. To go along with great shooting, MCC played tremendous defense forcing 23 turnovers.

“Overall we showed great hustle, and I am real pleased with my teams’ effort,” said Allen.

Johnson finished with 13 points, Campbell had 12 of her own. Ellis and Ashley Baumgartner paced Delgado with 13 points apiece.

The Eagles return to action this evening at 6 p.m. to face the top-seeded Baton Rouge Bears, who had no trouble beating Southern University of Shreveport.

The matchup will be for the Miss-Lou Conference Tournament Championship, but both teams have already clinched themselves berths in the Region 23 Tournament.



Eagles fall against Miss-Lou No. 1 Jags

MERIDIAN — The first time Meridian Community College and Southern University-Shreveport squared off, Jaguar big man Brian Stafford proved to be unstoppable.

Tuesday was no different, as Stafford and the top-seeded Jaguars defeated the Eagles 65-55 in the Miss-Lou Conference Tournament at Graham Gymnasium.

The Eagles jumped out to an early 7-2 lead. A timeout called by Southern, proved to be a well-timed decision, as the Jaguars came out after the break and went on a 16-5 run behind outstanding play from Stafford. Southern wouldn’t trail again.

On three consecutive possessions, the Southern big man used a repertoire of skilled moves with his back to the basket and converted them into points. MCC answered as Rashad Robinson connected twice from downtown and the Eagles cut into the Jaguar lead and got to within three points.

The teams entered halftime with Southern leading 28-23. Then the visitors turned up the defensive intensity in the second half creating 21 turnovers, most of them leading to easy buckets on the other end. As the teams’ traded blows back and forth, it seemed as the Jaguars were going to run away with the game. But at the 7:45 mark, Emmanuel Donald who delivered an emphatic dunk, evading the Southern shot-blocker, and getting the MCC crowd back into the contest.

The dunk cut the Southern lead to ten, but the Eagles would not get any closer as Rodney Hill nailed key free throws to seal the game and propel the Jaguars into the championship tonight against Delgado.

Stafford and Hill were the game high scorers with 18 points apiece. Donald had 14 for MCC, and Robinson finished with 12 points in the losing effort.