Lady Tigers win Nadine Carpenter Classic; Tigers finish 3rd
LEFLORE — The Central Lady Tigers opened their first week of the 202324 basketball season by winning the Nadine Carpenter Classic, which took place last week at Leflore High School’s Nadine Carpenter Memorial Gymnasium.
The Lady Tigers went through the tournament undefeated by beating the Smithville Lady Braves 43-28 in Saturday night’s championship game. The Lady Tigers won Friday afternoon’s semifinal contest 46-36 over the host Leflore Lady Savages. The Tigers came in third place in the tournament after defeating the Smithville Braves 69-47 Saturday afternoon. The Tigers lost 67-62 to the McCurtain Bulldogs in Friday night’s semifinals.
In the girls’ title game, the Lady Tigers (3-0) trailed 4-2 after the first quarter, but took control in the second quarter by outscoring the Lady Braves 12-1 to take a 14-5 halftime lead. A 1711 third quarter upped Central’s advantage to 29-12 entering the fourth quarter.
For the game, Koda Robbins scored a game-high 17 points and Cambree Bair added 11 points to lead Central, followed by Haley Cheek with seven points, Ayrland Giles with six points and Hadlie Woods with two points.
In the girls’ semifinal contest, the host Lady Savages jumped out to a 14-11 lead after the first quarter, but the Lady Tigers shut them out in the second period 8-0 to take a 19-14 halftime advantage. A 1410 third quarter increased Central’s lead to 33-24 entering the fourth quarter.
For the game, Woods shared game-high honors with 16 points and Bair added 14 points to lead Central, followed by Cheek with six points, Robbins with five points and Jiles with two points.
In the boys’ third-place game, the Tigers (2-1) led 12-10 after a quarter and 27-25 at halftime, but they put away the game with a 25-4 third quarter to take a 52-29 lead into the final period.
For the game, Central put a trio of players into double figures, led by Cade Tucker’s game-high 15 points, followed by Devon Baggs’ 14 points and Isaac Rogers’ 13 points. Connor Walters scored eight points, followed by Coy Blackburn with seven points, Joseph Lee with five points, Braxin Goodson with three points, Noah Buzzard and Jake Woods each with two points and Hardy Buzzard with free throw.
In the boys’ semifinals, the Bulldogs broke a 15-all tie after the first quarter with a 15-13 second period for a 30-28 halftime lead. Another 15-13 period in the third for the ’Dogs upped their advantage to 45-41 entering the final quarter.
In defeat, Central saw three players reach double figures in scoring, led by Baggs with 13 points, followed by Rogers with 13 points and Tucker with 10 points. Walters had seven points, followed by Lee with six points, Mendenhall, Noah Buzzard and Goodson with four points each and Hardy Buzzard with two points.
