MCC Women Take Home Victory Over Southwest, MCC Men Fall

From School Reports


The Meridian Community College Lady Eagles bounced back from a disappointing overtime loss against Baton Rouge Community College Saturday night with a solid performance Monday night. The Lady Eagles trailed throughout the entire game and pleased its home crowd with a 69-55 victory over Southwest Mississippi Community College.

MCC opened the game on a 7-0 and never let up to take a 28-21 lead at the end of the first half. MCC led by as many as 17 points on two different occasions to secure the home victory at the Graham Gymnasium.

Former Meridian High standout Reyada Stinner led the way with 20 points, while Gelese Lampton finished the game with 15 points. Former Newton High star Ashtin McNichols chipped in with 14 points and Kristen Sampson added 10 points.

MCC (14-8) will return to Miss-Lou Conference play Wednesday night with a road trip to New Orleans to battle Delgado Community College. The game is scheduled for a 5:30 tip-off.

Southwest 72

MCC (men) 52

The Eagles were looking to complete the sweep after its heartbreaking loss against Baton Rouge Community College Saturday night, but the Eagles couldn’t seal the deal. MCC fell on the road Saturday night against Baton Rouge on a last second three-point bucket and the Eagles were looking to get its second win of the season against Southwest.

The two teams swapped the lead for much of the first half, but Southwest built a 35-27 lead at the end of the first half. MCC was able to cut the Southwest lead to as little as six points on two different occasions in the second half, but the Bears would be too much to handle, and cruised to the victory.

T.J. Jones led the Eagles in the scoring department with 16 points and Michael Hutchins added eight points in the loss.

MCC (1-21) will return to action Wednesday night on the road against Delgado beginning at 7:30 p.m.

MCC Men Capture First Win; MCC Women Fall To Wallace-Hanceville

From School Reports


The Meridian Community College Eagles have experienced many difficult times throughout the 2012-2013 season and were looking for that illusive first victory this season. The Eagles got the monkey off its back Sunday afternoon at the Graham Gymnasium with a dramatic 46-45 victory over Wallace-Hanceville.

The two squads swapped the lead for much of the second half and the Eagles had possession of the ball with the game tied at 45-45 with under 10 seconds remaining in regulation. Former Meridian High standout Nick Water was fouled with four seconds remaining and would head to the charity stripe with a pair of free throws. Water drained the first free throw and came up short on the second opportunity to give Wallace-Hanceville one final chance for the game winning score. After a timeout, the Lions drove the length of the floor for a desperation shot that came up short to give MCC its first victory of the season.

Freshman William Byrd led the Eagles in the scoring department with 18 points and T.J. Jones added nine points in the win.

MCC (1-19) will return to action this Saturday night for another key Miss-Lou Conference game on the road against Baton Rouge Community College. The game is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. and will be played on the campus of Millsaps College in Jackson, MS.

Wallace-Hanceville 64

MCC (women) 56

The Lady Lions were able to hold off a fierce comeback by MCC in women’s action to take an eight-point road victory. The Lady Eagles trailed by at least 15 points on two different occasions in the second, but couldn’t overcome the enormous deficit. The Lady Eagles cut the lead to as few as three points in the final five minutes, but Wallace-Hanceville would hang on for the win.

Gelese Lampton led the way in scoring for MCC with 19 points, while Ashtin McNichols added 12 points in the loss. MCC struggled shooting from the floor in the contest by finishing the game a shooting percentage of 29.

MCC (13-7) will return to action this Saturday night on the road at Baton Rouge Community College at 6 p.m. The game will be played at Millsaps College in Jackson, MS.

MCC Lady Eagles Take Down LSU-Eunice

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College Lady Eagles bounced back in a big way Saturday with a 75-61 victory over LSU-Eunice at the Graham Gymnasium. The Lady Eagles rebounded with its second Miss-Lou Conference win of the season after dropping a two-point decision at home Wednesday night to Southern Shreveport.

The two teams traded baskets throughout much of the first ten minutes of the contest, but the Lady Eagles built a 39-29 lead at the end of the first half. MCC was once again paced in the scoring department by Gelese Lampton with 12 points after one half. MCC built its largest lead of the game with 12:22 left in the second half by scoring 12 unanswered points to make the score 56-40. Lampton led the scoring charge for the Lady Eagles with a pair of baskets, while former Meridian High star Reyada Stinner added a pair of buckets, to go along with three steals.

LSU-Eunice (5-12, 1-1) battled back to cut the MCC lead to single digits at 59-50 with 9:18 remaining in the game thanks to several key baskets on the inside by Chelsey Dubroc. MCC answered the Lady Bengals with three straight scoring trips up the floor to take its lead back into double digits at 65-50 with 7:21 left in the game. Lampton nailed a short jump on one trip up the floor, while former Newton High standout Ashtin McNichols added a pair of baskets off the bench for MCC. The Lady Eagles were able to hold off the Lady Bengals during the final three minutes of the contest to secure the victory.

Lampton led the Lady Eagles in scoring with 26 points and the sophomore ended the game with four three-point field goals. Kristen Sampson added 14 points, while Stinner had another solid performance for MCC with 13 points.
Elisavet Politopoulou led the Lady Bengals with 19 points and six baskets came from three-point range from the sophomore from Athens, Greece. Meghan Cross added 14 points, while Dubroc finished with 12 points inside for LSU-Eunice.

MCC (13-6, 2-1) will finish its current six-game home stand Sunday afternoon against Wallace-Hanceville at 2 p.m. The MCC men will also return to action Sunday afternoon against Wallace-Hanceville at 4 p.m.

MCC Baseball Inks Pair of Local Players

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College baseball program signed a pair of local standouts Friday afternoon to add to its roster for the 2014 season. Chance McDonald and Keaton Smith of Clarkdale High School signed with MCC in a special ceremony Friday afternoon at Clarkdale.

“These are two quality young men and it is always a plus to sign local talent,” said MCC head coach Dillon Sudduth. “We have a ton of great players from all of the high schools in this area and we believe both of these guys will fit into our program well.”

McDonald and Smith helped lead the Bulldogs to an appearance in the South State Championship finals and a District Championship. McDonald was chosen as a member of the All-State Team and finished the 2012 campaign with a .400 batting average. Smith made several contributions on the field for the Bulldogs in 2012 and one was of the top defenders at shortstop. Smith ended the season with a .350 batting average and his father also played junior college baseball for MCC in the early 90’s.

MCC Swept Away By Jaguars

From The Meridian Star

MERIDIAN — When Gelese Lampton nailed her sixth 3-pointer with 13:32 remaining Wednesday night at Graham Gymnasim, the Meridian Community College women's basketball team was right where it, apparently, didn't want to be.


That bucket gave the Eagles a 53-34 lead against Miss-Lou Conference foe Southern-Shreveport. Armed with the seemingly insurmountable lead, MCC relaxed and the Jaguars pounced. Using an immediate 17-2 run, Shreveport battled back and rallied for a 69-67 road win.

"We just got relaxed and we talk daily about how you can't get relaxed when you get a lead, you have to continue to attack the other team and put them away,” MCC coach Jocelyn McGillberry said.

“But we relaxed and once Shreveport got a little confidence, there wasn't anything we could do about it.”

After the 3 from Lampton, Shreveport scored six straight before Malaka Johnson scored on a putback to push MCC back up 55-40. From there, though, three straight MCC turnovers helped spur an 11-0 run that brought the Jaguars back to life. Alexis Glasper had two straight baskets to spark the run, while Shreveport also got 3-pointers in the run from Rene-Ceah Beard, Tytionna Pratt and Trianna Wilridge.

Lampton answered the run with her final bucket with 7:34 remaining and following a Kristen Sampson basket, MCC's lead was back to eight. That was the biggest it would get the rest of the way as Shreveport continued to close. After pulling with 63-60 on a Glasper bucket with 4:11 remaining, Shreveport missed two straight chances to make it a one-point game and then former Meridian High star Reyada Stinner looked to give the Eagles the momentum it needed.

The 5-foot-2 sophomore point guard grabbed a defensive rebound and after driving the length of the court, shifted the ball around her back to the opposite hand while driving the lane and finished over a pair of taller Jaguars to put MCC up by five with 3:13 left.

The Eagles, though, wouldn't score again until the final horn sounded. Instead, they continued to turn the ball over, finishing with 20, and also missed five free throws in the final nine minutes of the game, including three front end of 1-and-1s in the final 3:30.

“The past two practices have been like that,” McGillberry said. “After our last win, those two practices, we've been too relaxed. And I've told them how you practice is how you play, and unfortunately, it was.”

With MCC stalling, Shreveport capitalized. The Jaguars clawed back within three on a Pratt basket with 2:12 left and then Wilridge drilled a 3 to tie it with 48 seconds remaining. After MCC missed a pair of shots, Pratt was fouled getting the rebound with 15.7 seconds left and hit two free throws to put Shreveport up 67-65. It was the Jaguars' first lead. Wilridge added two more free throws with eight seconds left. Wilridge and Pratt both finished with 23 points to pace Shreveport, with Pratt hauling in 10 rebounds as well.

Lampton poured in 30 to lead Meridian, which falls to 12-6 and 1-1 in the Miss-Lou. The sophomore, who also finished with nine rebounds, had 22 at halftime as she pushed the Eagles to a 37-24 lead at the break. Stinner assed 10 points and 10 assists.


Shreveport 78

Meridian men 57

The Jaguars held MCC scoreless for nearly the first four minutes Wednesday, building up a 6-0 lead and cruised from there.

Shreveport gradually pulled away from the Eagles, who fell to 0-19 and 0-2 in conference, in the first half in leading 42-34 at intermission. MCC did make a run early in the second half after the Jaguars went up 50-29 on a Donald Francis 3-pointer at the 16:23 mark.

Limiting Shreveport to just one bucket over the next five minutes, MCC closed within 52-38 as Nick Waters, a former Meridian High standout, started the run with a bucket. TJ Jones, who led the Eagles with 22, then scored four straight before Kenny Davis hit a free throw and a bucket.

However, Shreveport answered right back, scoring eight straight including back-to-back 3-pointers. The Jaguars were led by A'Torri Shine with 18, Francis with 17 and Joseph James with 15.

Waters finished with 10 points and five rebounds for MCC and Corey Brister also added 10 points to complement Jones, who scored the first 10 points of the game for the Eagles.

MCC Basketball Splits Miss-Lou Conference Games Against Delgado

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College Lady Eagles were able to battle back and take another dramatic victory to open Miss-Lou Conference action against Delgado Community College. The Lady Eagles trailed for much of the game, but were able to secure a 63-57 victory over the Lady Dolphins in overtime. The game was the second game MCC had played this week in which the contest was forced to an overtime period. The Lady Eagles defeated East Mississippi earlier in the week 48-44 in overtime.

Delgado led 26-19 at the end of the first half, but MCC slowly started to chip away at the lead and found a way to take a 54-50 lead with 1:46 left in the game. Delgado was able to tie the game at 54-54 on a pair of jump shots by Ali Sheppard, but MCC would have the ball in the closing seconds. The Lady Eagles came up empty in its final possession of regulation, but the overtime session would be a different story. MCC opened the overtime period on a 6-0 run and were able to hold off Delgado for the victory.

Ashtin McNichols, a former Newton High School star, led the way in scoring for MCC with 20 points. McNichols scored 12 points in the second half off the bench and scored a pair of baskets in the overtime period. Former Meridian High standout Reyada Stinner finished the game with 16 points, while Gelese Lampton and Victoria Stewart ended the game with 10 points apiece.

Andralina Marshell led the way in scoring for Delgado with 14 points and Sheppard ended the game with 13 points in the loss for the Lady Dolphins.

MCC (11-5, 1-0) will return to action Wednesday night against Southern Shreveport in another key Miss-Lou Conference contest. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start at the Graham Gymnasium. Delgado (10-7, 0-1) will return to action at home Wednesday night to face LSU-Eunice at 6 p.m.

Delgado (men) 82

MCC 73

The Eagles couldn’t secure the sweep on the night by falling to the Dolphins in men’s action by nine points. MCC trailed Delgado at the end of the first half by a score of 43-35, but couldn’t draw closer than six points in the second half.

Aubrey Humphrey led the way in scoring for MCC with 19 points and William Byrd followed with 14 points. Corey Brister added 14 points, while T.J. Jones added 13 points in the home loss for the Eagles.

Tyson Magee led the charge for the Dolphins with 20 points and Melvin Davis had a solid scoring night with 18 points.

MCC (0-18, 0-1) will return to Miss-Lou Conference action Wednesday night at home against Southern Shreveport beginning at 8 p.m. Delgado (11-9, 1-0) will return to action January 19 at home against Baton Rouge Community College.

MCC Women Take OT Thriller Over EMCC

Tony Tsoukalas

The Meridian Star
MERIDIAN — Gelese Lampton and the Meridian Community College women’s basketball team muscled their way past rival East Mississippi, taking down the Lions 48-44 in overtime Thursday night at Graham Gymnasium.

The sophomore guard, Lampton led the Eagles with 27 points on the night, and was one of the only bright spots in terms of shooting for MCC.

“It was just a defensive game,” Lampton said. “We had to play good defense and play hard on both ways. We had to work through it and work as a team.”

The teams battled through turnovers throughout the first half, with EMCC taking a 19-17 lead into the break.

The Lions would come out of the break hot, going on a 8-0 run early in the half to pull ahead as 29-20. However, the Eagles stayed alive, relying on Lampton as well as forward Ashtin McNichols, a former Newton High standout, to keep them in the game.

“It was a gritty game,” MCC coach Jocelyn McGilberry said. “I’m just proud of the girls and how they played today. Everyone of them, the girls came out ready to play tonight, and I’m proud of everyone of them.”

Down 38-31 with less than three minutes left to play, the Eagles began their comeback. McNichols got MCC started putting in a bucket in the post before Lampton hit a 3-point shot with 1:28 left to make the score 38-36.

The Eagles continued their strong defense on EMCC’s next possession, stopping the Lions on the other end before McNichols earned a trip to the line with 28.4 seconds left. The sophomore calmly drained one free throw and then another to tie the game as the home crowd erupted.

A double dribble penalty forced the Lions into a turnover. However, MCC was unable to respond, turning the ball right back over on a double dribble penalty of its own.

In overtime, the two teams traded blows, until MCC freshman Kristin Sampson found the bottom of the net to put the Eagles up 46-44 with 23.4 left in the game.

On the Lions’ next possession, EMCC freshman guard Nockeyia Qualls was whistled for a turnover when she stepped on the baseline. Lampton then knocked down two free throws after being fouled to secure the win.

“It was a good win for us,” Lampton said. “We had to work hard to get over the hump, and we just worked hard to night and got through the game.”

MCC improves to 11-5 with the win and hosts Delgado on Saturday at 2 p.m., EMCC falls to 2-10 and will host Mississippi Delta on Monday at 5:30 p.m.

EMCC (Men)           67

MCC                        63

 Despite being on its second-straight game playing with only six players, East Mississippi Community College held on to beat Meridian Community College Friday night 67-63.

The Lions got out to a comfortable lead early, riding a strong performance from freshman guard Mack Foster who shot 5/6 in the first half including four three-pointers. Foster shot 9/14 including 6/7 from beyond the arch on the night. The freshman reached a career-high 27 points for EMCC just two days after reaching a career-high 19 against East Central on Tuesday.

The Lions would take a 37-24 lead into the half, however , the winless Eagles would chip back.

MCC slowly wore down the depleted EMCC squad, forcing the Lions into sloppy play in the second half.

The Eagles would go on an 11-0 run late in the second half, cutting the lead down to 58-57. However, down 65-61 with under a minute left in the game, MCC’s Nick Water’s three-point attempt fell short, allowing EMCC to hold on for the win.
EMCC improves to 8-4 with the win, while MCC drops to 0-17 on the season. EMCC will return all six of its suspended players for its next game on Monday against Mississippi Delta.

McPhail Honored With National Award

From School Reports

Meridian Community College tennis coach Wanda McPhail has built one of the most prestigious junior college tennis programs in the state of Mississippi and possibly the country. McPhail was recently honored for her many years of coaching service with 2012 Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year.

McPhail received the award on Dec. 17 at the Waldorf Astoria in Naples, Fla. McPhail was selected by her peers to receive the Junior College Women's Coach of the Year Award.

"I am especially honored and humbled to have been selected by the other coaches for this prestigious award," said McPhail. "I am really appreciative to Wilson and the ITA for this award."

McPhail was presented the award by tennis great Roy Emerson and Michael Wallace, the Director of Sports Marketing and Brand Alliances for Wilson Sporting Goods.

Emerson is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Australia who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam tournament men's doubles titles. Emerson is the only male player to have won singles and doubles titles at all four Grand Slam events. His 28 major titles are an all-time record for a male player.

"It was truly a highlight of my coaching career to receive this award and to have the opportunity to meet Roy Emerson," added McPhail.

The award process begins with nominations at the regional level that consists of four regions in the United States. Regional winners are then placed on a national ballot and voted on by the awards committee.

McPhail has previously been selected the Tennis "Coach of the Year" by the Mississippi Association of Coaches in 2003 and again in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In 2007 she received a national coaching award, the Herschel Stephens Award, given to a coach who has been to the national tournament five times. The recipient of this award is chosen by the men coaches in attendance at the national tournament and is given for service to the association.

McPhail has led the MCC program to numerous Region 23 titles and trips to the NJCAA National Tournament. The men and women both recently captured the Region 23 Championships during the 2012 season.

MCC Basketball Splits Against Northeast Mississippi

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College Lady Eagles opened the second half of its 2012-2013 schedule Monday night with a matchup against Northeast Mississippi Community College. The Lady Eagles started the new year off on the right note by taking a hard fought 69-55 victory over the Lady Tigers at Graham Gymnasium. Mcc improved to 10-5 overall with the home victory, while Northeast Mississippi fell to 5-6 with the road setback.

MCC started the game on a 10-0 run paced by the play of sophomore guard Reyada Stinner. The former Meridian High product scored five of the first ten points of the game for the Lady Eagles. Northeast Mississippi would not go away quietly in the contest, as the Lady Tigers clawed back to make the score 16-12 after a 10-2 run paced by a pair of buckets from LaTonya Gadison.

The two teams battled in a tight game for the remainder of the first half and MCC carried a 30-27 lead into the locker room. The Lady Eagles pulled away for good on a pair of three-point baskets by Gelese Lampton to build the MCC lead to 47-39 with 10:32 left in the game. The Lady Tigers couldn’t mount much offense in the final minutes of the game and MCC took the 14-point victory.

Lampton led the way in scoring for MCC with 26 points and the former Hattiesburg star ended the game with six three-point buckets. Stinner ended her solid performance with 15 points, while Malaka Johnson added seven points.

MCC will return to action at home Thursday night against East Mississippi Community College. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start at the Graham Gymnasium.

Northeast (men) 75

MCC 65

The Eagles couldn’t complete the sweep and fell to the Tigers by 10 points in men’s action. Meridian has now lost 16 straight games to open the season, while Northeast Mississippi improved its overall record to 6-5.

MCC held a 36-34 lead at the end of the first half and held a double-digit lead at one point during the first half. MCC couldn’t overcome the hot shooting in the second half by Acie Vance, who finished the game with 25 points.

MCC cut the lead to as little as six points in the final two minutes, but Northeast was able to secure the game with clutch free throws down the stretch.

William Byrd and Nick Waters led the way in scoring for MCC with 14 points apiece, while Kenny Davis added 10 points in the loss.

MCC will return to action Thursday night at home against East Mississippi Community College beginning at 8 p.m.