Area Basketball

By Tim Emmons
temmons@casscountynow.com

Queen City
Queen City’s varsity girls’ basketball team has been busy since the season began.
On Nov. 17, the Lady Bulldogs topped Maud 45-26 in the opener of their own tournament (International Paper Pineywoods Classic).
Jessica Jones netted 28 points and eight rebounds. Jacie Lance added eight points and CeCe Walker and Madison Jones combined for 13 rebounds.
The next afternoon QC routed Hooks 57-34. Jessica Jones led in scoring with 17 points followed by Tierra Johnson with 12. Both Jessica Jones and Madison Jones had high rebounding totals with six and five respectively.
In the championship game QC lost a hard-fought game to McLeod by a score of 64-53. Jessica Jones had 15 points in that game and Lance added 13.
Two days later Queen City lost a tough match to 4A Liberty-Eylau by a score of 57-45, but a December meeting between the two teams was a different story as Queen City beat L-E 59-47.
Jessica Jones was 10-for-11 from the charity stripe as she poured in 24 points total, Lance added 17 points with eight rebounds, Walker posted nine rebounds and Madison Jones recorded seven boards.
On Nov. 29, QC pulled out a gritty win over Elysian Fields 79-69.
Jessica Jones was pure beast mode as she put up 54 points in the game with nine treys and Lance put in 14 points.
As Dec. rolled around the Lady Bulldogs opened the month playing in the Chapel Hill Tournament.
In game one of that event QC beat 4A Kilgore 40-38 behind Jessica Jones’ 23-point outburst.
Later that same day the Lady Bulldogs lost a nail-biter to Alba-Golden by a score of 61-59. Jessica Jones paced QC with 31 points with 10 of those points coming from a 10-for-11 streak at the free throw line.
Lance was 5-for-5 from the line as she racked up 10 points and Johnson added nine points.
After beating L-E as mentioned earlier in this article QC beat 4A Pitsburg 45-36 with Lance putting up 36 points. Madison Jones, Walker and Colleen Kilgore had nine, eight and seven rebounds respectively in the contest.
QC ended the tourney with a 49-42, double-overtime loss to Cooper. Lance once again led in scoring with 31 points while Madison Jones grabbed eight boards. In the final two games Lance was 20-for-26 from the line.
District play began on Tuesday, Dec. 13, as the Lady bulldogs traveled to Hughes Springs.

Atlanta
On Dec. 6, the Lady Rabbits beat Jefferson 67-63 in a battle of marron and white clad teams.
The Lady Bulldogs held a 19-13 lead after one quarter and was up just 29-24 at the break, but Atlanta outscored Jefferson 43 to 34 in the second half to take the win.
Brittany Collins posted a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds, Sheveonia Smith added 25 points and four assists, Teshuna Sheppard put in 10 points with 13 boards and Keyona Easter recorded 11 points, eight assists and eight steals. 
On Dec. 9, the Lady Rabbs decimated New Diana, 81-7. Atlanta was up 37-6 at the half and went on a 43-1 tear to finish the game.
Smith put in 22 points, Easter added 21, Sheppard had 13 and both Kinsey Kelly and Collins had nine each.

McLeod
McLeod’s boys faced off against Queen City and came out on top, 66-38.
J.R. Smith had 21 points and 20 rebounds for McLeod and Colby Smith added 19 points and 10 rebounds.
For Queen City Josh Henry had 11 points and both Dexter Burrow and Alex Carver had eight points.
Queen City’s junior varsity team outdistanced McLeod’s JV team, 50-9, in their contest.
The Lady Longhorns topped Queen City, 51-38, behind Tessa Glenn’s 19-point outburst.
Selena Moon, Jilian Ellis, Bailey Alexander and Emma Parker each had six points in the fray. 
Jacie Lance had 12 points for QC while Tierra Johnson and Emily Maxwell added nine each.
The JV game went to McLeod with a score of, 51-5. Caitlin Hall, Faith Crocker and Brook Jester each had 10 points in that game.
In other action McLeod’s seventh and eighth grade teams enjoyed big wins over Maud.
The seventh grade won, 40-9, with Tyler Williams and Braden Parker each tossing in 12 points while teammate Andrew Stephenson added nine.
The eighth grade won, 40-18, with Nathan Parker leading the scoring charge with 12 points.