Nora Grace Davis led the Lady Raiders in scoring in a 61-26 loss to Oak Hill Academy with 15 points. Davis and the rest of the Lady Raiders will look to get back on track next week.By TAYLOR MITCHELL
Sports Editor

Both the Raiders and Lady Raiders of Benton Academy fell to the squads from Oak Hill Academy last week to wrap up the holiday schedule.
The Raiders fell 70-37, while their female counterparts lost 61-26.
The day got off to a rocky start with Lady Raiders scoring just two points in the first quarter, while Oak Hill exploded for 23. Oak Hill kept scoring points in bunches, posting 16 points in the second quarter to take a 39-9 lead at halftime.
The second half wouldn’t see a different story with Oak Hill scoring 12 and 10 points in the final two quarters. One thing that did change, however, was the offensive production by Benton.
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Despite a 10-point performance by senior Corey Cox (4) Yazoo City was unable to keep pace with Bailey, who won 51-41 Wednesday afternoon.By TAYLOR MITCHELL
Sports Editor

JACKSON - Yazoo City entered the Jackson Pepsi Tournament looking to establish itself as one of the best teams in MHSAA 5A. Instead it was the Knights of Bailey high School who showed off their skills in a 51-41 victory in a first round match up Wednesday evening.
“That didn’t look like my team out there,” head coach Archie Carlyle said. “We had too many turnovers and made poor decisions on the fast breaks. We just weren’t concentrating on what we were supposed to do.”
The Indians started off as the dominant squad, opening the game with 12 points in the first quarter, including a 6-0 run that gave them a three-point lead. However, Bailey wouldn’t let Yazoo City hold the lead for long.
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The ball was just out of reach for Benton against Indianola Academy Wednesday.By TAYLOR MITCHELL
Sports Editor

A four-point third quarter by the Lady Raiders of Benton put them in a hole they couldn’t get out of as they fell to Indianola Academy 42-36 Wednesday. In the following game, the Raiders fell behind by 15 points in the first half and never threatened the Rams’ lead, who went on to win 71-49.
The Lady Raiders, after being down 18-8 at the end of the first quarter, played their best basketball of the season when they held Indianola to just three points in the second quarter, while posting 16 of their own to take a three-point lead into halftime.
However, with just four points scored after halftime by Benton, the Lady Colonels took full advantage, retaking the lead 31-28 headed into the fourth quarter.
In the final frame of action, Indianola outscored Benton 11-8 and was never in danger of losing the lead.
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The Mitchell ReportOne of the first things Yazoo City head basketball coach Archie Carlyle told me after his Indians fell to Bailey 51-41 at the Jackson Pepsi Tournament was “that didn’t look like my team.”
It sure didn’t.
Turnovers, easy baskets missed, fouls and missed free throws doomed Yazoo City in their first round match up with the Knights.
Yazoo City prides itself on playing solid defense and making the easy baskets, which includes those “easy” lay ups on fast breaks. During certain stretches Wednesday, the Indians played like they had all season long. However, those stretches were far and few between.
Bailey went on runs of 8-0 in the second quarter, 9-2 in the third and 12-3 to start the fourth and 7-2 (five of which were free throws) to end the game. Giving a team runs like that is a recipe for disaster.
Like I mentioned above, the Indians did have stretches were they were the dominant team. At the beginning of the third quarter, Yazoo City scored nine unanswered points to take a 28-22 lead with five minutes to go in the quarter. However, they would score just two more points the rest of the quarter while Bailey took the two-point lead with nine points.
After that it seemed obvious who would leave the court victorious.
Yet, the Indians still had a shot at pulling off the victory. Junior Derrick Little made back-to-back three pointers that brought the score to 44-39 with 2:51 left to go. In basketball, four points is nothing to overcome. Another big run by the Knights, this time a 7-2 run, sealed the victory.
“At a crucial time late in the fourth quarter we had some free throw opportunities,” Carlyle explained. “We had a chance, but didn’t take advantage of our opportunities.”