Lady Tigers win Area 6 title in rout of Wilcox

FullSizeRender-4Demopolis wasted little time taking a commanding lead Wednesday night en route to a 77-50 win over Wilcox Central in the Class 5A, Area 6 title game.

The Lady Tigers led 26-12 through one quarter of play and continued to build on the lead throughout the contest as they pickpocketed Wilcox to the tune of 17 steals.

“We talked about coming out, getting started quicker, pushing the basketball and getting some easy transition baskets,” Demopolis coach Tony Pittman said. “We were able to get into a rhythm tonight and score a lot of points and get some transition points off our defense. I was glad to see that.”

The Lady Tigers shot 20-for-32 from the free throw line Wednesday night, a mark Pittman hopes his team will improve moving forward.

“We’ve still got to work on making free throws because when you get into a close ball game, you’ve got to be able to make free throws,” Pittman said.

Demopolis got all five of its starters involved in the offense and persisted in pushing the pace. Wilcox countered with strong point guard play from Laquisha Jones who continuously fed Mychel Jackson on the backside post to keep the Lady Jaguars afloat.

Demopolis used a 21-12 run in the third quarter to put the game completely out of reach.

“I’m very proud of the effort from start to finish tonight,” Pittman said.

Jackson led all scorers with 26 points and had eight rebounds. Jones ended with 11 points to go along with 11 assists and five rebounds.

Ivery Moore led Demopolis with 21 points. Courtney Hill had 18 points for Demopolis as well as four steals, three rebounds and three assists. Erica Bennett had 15 points with six assists and three steals. Darnesha Harris scored 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds, blocked three shots and tallied three steals.

The effort is the latest indicator of Harris’ emerging offensive role in the wake of season-ending injuries suffered by Sylvia Clayton and Shakessaney Bell.

“When you have situations like that happen, you’re asking teammates to step up and do things that they don’t normally do,” Pittman said. “Darnesha has accepted that challenge. She has stepped up to the plate and she’s scoring and doing a great job. We’re so proud of her.”

DeeDee White had nine points, nine assists, six steals and five rebounds.

All five Demopolis starters made the All-Tournament Team while Hill took Most Valuable Player honors.

Demopolis (22-3) is set to host subregional action Monday against Marbury.

“We’re going to take a day or two off and then our focus is coming back and working on the small things,” Pittman said. “As you’re progressing through the playoffs, you want to get back into the laboratory and work on the small things. When you play great basketball teams, it’s going to be the teams that do the small things the best that are going to win ball games.”