By Maurice Singleton/Sports Writer

WIGGINS — The Newton County Lady Cougars held the Moss Point Lady Tigers to seven second half points, on their way to a 46-15 dominating win in the Class 4A South State Quarterfinals at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College on Friday afternoon.

The Lady Cougars set the tone early, holding the Lady Tigers scoreless in the first quarter (14-0), pressuring the ball at every position. Then on the offensive end, the Lady Cougars were hard to keep up with on their outstanding ball movement and player movement.

The Lady Tigers responded in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Cougars 8-7 in the period. But that was as good as it would get for the Lady Tigers. The Lady Cougars would open the second half with a huge Kori Tillman 3-pointer that started an 18-0 run that spanned nearly the full period as the Lady Tigers sank a layup as the buzzer rang to end the third quarter.

“Everything was hard to come by,” said Moss Point coach Ethan Porter. “Upset, disappointed with us. It happens. We’ve got some seniors, but we’ve got a fairly young group overall. Hopefully we’ll be able to get back here one day.”

While the Lady Tigers had a hard time getting points, the Lady Cougars were just the opposite. They got better as the game went on. After scoring 21 points in the first quarter, they put up 18 points in the third quarter, and closed out the fourth quarter spreading the court in the final three minutes, but still putting up 17 points in the period.

“We believe in ball movement, player movement. We practice it every day,” said Lady Cougars coach Fred Morris. “We share the ball. Moving without it, making good reads; making good reads leads to good scores.

“We’ve been preparing for this for a week,” said Morris. “To see them go out there and execute like we’ve been practicing. I’m very happy.”

And while the offense put up 35 second half points, the defense shut down Moss Points’ offense, giving up a single basket in the third quarter and only 5 points in the final quarter.

“Defense!” said Morris of his team’s success at taking Moss Point out of their offense. “Locking in defensively. I’ve been in this tournament and I know that defense is what carries you.”

The Lady Cougars were led by Dazlie Tubby with 12 points, followed by Nalayah Phillips and Tillman with 11 points each.

Moss Point was led by Landyn Miller with 9 points.

Newton County advances to a semifinal game in Jackson next week.