The South Panola Tigers's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their ninth straight loss. They took a 63-47 bruising from Grenada. While losing is never fun, South Panola can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Mississippi basketball rankings (they are ranked 239th, while Grenada is ranked 119th).
South Panola's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Demartric Houston, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Cameron Griffin who scored 12 points along with nine rebounds and two steals. Another player making a difference was Jamison Smith, who scored seven points.
Even though they lost, South Panola smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. This was only their 11th loss (out of 13 games) when they hit their own glass that hard.
Leading Grenada to victory were Jarques Perry and Caleb Howard. Perry dropped a double-double on 14 points and 18 rebounds, while Howard dropped a double-double on 23 points and 12 rebounds. Perry hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for eight straight games. Kelton Jones was another key contributor, scoring 15 points along with two steals.
South Panola dropped their record down to 2-14 with that loss, which was their fifth straight on the road. As for Grenada, their win bumped their record up to 7-11.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. After both having extra time off, South Panola and Lake Cormorant will shake off the cobwebs and take on one another at 6:00 p.m. on January 26th. Grenada will have some time to savor their victory since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Saltillo at 7:30 p.m. on January 25th.
