Booneville, Miss. - Members of the Northeast Mississippi Community College men's basketball team had waited patiently for Kendall Stafford to showcase his vast potential for the first time this season.
Stafford finally burst onto the scene against East Central Community College. He registered a career-high 22 points to lift the Tigers to an 89-80 victory on Thursday, December 10 inside legendary Bonner Arnold Coliseum.
"He had a little coming out party," said Northeast headman Cord Wright. "Hopefully this is the beginning of what we all know he's capable of doing. It's a big night for him and I'm proud of him."
The Corinth native was just 15.8 percent from three-point range prior to the matchup against the Warriors. Stafford drained four treys in the winning effort and was 8 of 10 from the floor with five rebounds as well.
"It feels pretty good," Stafford said. "I was aggressive and helped my team out. I've always been a good shooter and that's my role. I just knocked my shots down."
Wesley Harris tallied the initial 11 points for the Tigers in the matchup over a span of two minutes and 45 seconds. Back-to-back buckets by Leroy Buchanan extended Northeast's early advantage to 18-10.
But East Central responded with an 11-0 run midway through the opening period. A basket from Ravion Henry allowed the Warriors (4-4) to take a 27-25 lead with 9:17 remaining before halftime.
Stafford got the Tigers back into their groove from that point with two huge three-pointers in a matter of 30 seconds. He added another trey moments later to push Northeast ahead for good at 37-31.
The Tigers held East Central scoreless over the last two minutes and 21 seconds of the period. A Desmin Harris make from beyond the arc coupled with another Buchanan field goal gave Northeast a 49-37 advantage at the break.
The Warriors made things interesting once again in the second half. An 11-2 spurt that was capped by an old-fashioned three-point play by Henry cut East Central's deficit to one possession at the 16:05 mark.
Stafford again lifted the Tigers out of a troubling situation. He connected on two straight buckets that were both assisted by Antonio Dodson to extend Northeast's lead to 55-48.
A Joel Baskin, Jr., basket brought the Warriors within 83-78 late in the contest. But the combination of Buchanan and Dodson was perfect in six tries at the free throw line in the final 40 seconds to secure a pivotal region win for the Tigers.
"We knew it would be a game where we were going to have to get some stops," said Wright. "We got some ones that we needed late in the game and we were able to kinda pull away."
Buchanan paced Northeast with a game-high 25 points. The Madison Central High School graduate electrified the home crowd with four beautiful dunks and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds on the defensive side as well.
"Kendall stepped up and took some pressure off me. That was a good thing," Buchanan said. "That was one of my best games. I had to get out on transition to get my points."
Wesley Harris completed the list of double figure scorers for the Tigers with 15 points. Desmin Harris and Jack Nichols both barely missed that plateau with nine points apiece.
Northeast (7-3) went 18 of 22 overall at the charity stripe, which was its best ledger of the year. The Tigers also compiled 20 assists on their 29 field goals and had 36 bench points.
(W) East Central 89, Northeast 75
Dashiyah Agnew's primary job as point guard for the Lady Tigers consists of setting up her teammates with opportunities to score using outstanding passes. But she can be an offensive weapon herself when needed.
Agnew accumulated a team-best 15 points against the Lady Warriors. She totaled five field goals and five free shots all while maintaining her normal productivity with a game-high five assists.
"Somebody has to step up and be a leader and tonight was my night," said Agnew. "The other teams never know when I'm going to pass it or shoot it. I think that helps us out a whole lot."
Both squads participated in a close first quarter of action. A V'lenchia Farmer layup kept Northeast within one possession of the lead before East Central expanded its advantage to 24-19.
The Lady Warriors leaped ahead by double digits halfway through the second following a Samantha Duncan trey. But the Lady Tigers outscored their visitors 15-4 in the last four minutes of the period to take their inaugural lead of the contest.
Christy Clark, Timaya Stewart, Shelby Wilbanks, Agnew and Farmer all had field goals during that stretch as Northeast (4-5) carried a 43-42 advantage into the locker room.
"They did the little bitty things right when we took the lead at halftime," Lady Tigers head coach Brenda Mayes said. "I told the girls that was awesome the way they played hard and kept composure."
The two squads exchanged the lead on three different occasions early in the third. A pair of makes by Agnew put Northeast up by a 48-47 margin with 6:44 showing on the clock.
East Central (6-2) concluded the quarter with a 72-56 advantage after a long distance connection from Aniyah Marshall and multiple buckets from Alexia McDonald and Miracle Rushing.
The Lady Tigers ended the matchup on a 7-0 run to account for the final count. Natasha Jones knocked down a shot from long distance while Bridgejae Patterson and Agnew contributed baskets as well.
Wilbanks reached double figures for the ninth consecutive game to begin her collegiate career. The Walnut High School alumnus had 14 points and also tied three others for a team-best seven boards.
Farmer was also solid in the post with 12 points and six offensive rebounds to her credit. Stewart set a new career-best mark with five made field goals to amass 11 points.
Northeast held a plus-11 edge in rebounding with 50 boards, which was the second most in a single outing this season. The Lady Tigers racked up 46 points in the paint as well.
Eighteen offensive boards transitioned directly into 24 seconds chance points for Northeast. Farmer and Stewart guided a group of players that came off the bench to score 30 points.