Demopolis takes two at John Essex

Demopolis High School took two wins Thursday night over intra-county host John Essex High.

Demopolis’ girls advanced to 13-5 on the season with a 45-23 victory over the Lady Hornets. Jonniece Collins paced the Lady Tigers with 13 points, while Ivery Moore and Courtney Hall added seven apiece.

“Once we got an early lead, we worked on some things that we never get to work on, and we got some of our young kids an opportunity to play,” said DHS head coach Tony Pittman. “Our kids played hard for the most part.”

John Essex was led by seventh-grader Amber Richardson’s seven points.

“We came out a little flat and had some early turnovers,” said Lady Hornets head coach James Daniels. “We had some jitters playing a 5A team, but once we got over that part, I thought we played well.”

The Lady Hornets fell to 2-12 with the loss, but Daniels said he is proud of the effort of his young squad. “We are playing with four sophomores, one ninth-grader, two eighth-graders and three seventh-graders,” the coach noted. “We made some adjustments and played well after we settled down.”

In boys’ action, Demopolis grabbed a 44-29 halftime lead and fought off a pair of John Essex mini-runs in the second half to take the 68-57 win, improving to 11-11 on the year.

“The thing that impressed me most is that we got a win on the road, and that’s always big,” said DHS head coach Rodney Jackson. “Essex plays at a very high level and they played well tonight. Our execution was off tonight, and we’ve got to execute better if we’re going to make a run in the playoffs.”

Roderick Davis led DHS with 25 points, and Tommy Wilson added 19. For the Hornets, Anthony McIntosh led the way with 18 points, followed by Cedric Cooks’ 14.

“Demopolis shot lights out,” said Essex head coach Chris Agee. “Our guys battled back and I thought we did well coming back after getting behind in the first half. Overall I thought we played great defense tonight.”

Demopolis hosts Greenville in a critical Region contest Friday night.