Pirates, Lady Pirates Begin Second Half Of Season With Wins; Face Vardaman Jan. 24 In Division Play

COFFEEVILLE – Typically, the second half of a season is when coaches want to see their teams playing their best.  
In the case of the Coffeeville Lady Pirates and Pirates, the start to the second half may have been an indication of what’s to be expected for the remainder of the regular season.  Beginning the second half of the season travelling to neighboring county rival Bruce and hosting new division foe Tupelo Preparatory Christian School, both teams looked to improve upon a successful first half.
Playing with only one senior, the Lady Pirates came into the second half of the season surprisingly at 7-5 and looking to build off  holiday wins over 2A Leake County and 4A Houston.  Following impressive 20 plus points wins against Bruce and TPC, the Lady Pirates improved to 9-5.
At Bruce, the Lady Pirates’ Tomaja Shaw came off the bench to score 29 points; Dejah Reed added 15 as the Lady Pirates claimed a 59-29 victory. Scoring was rounded out by Myesha Stokes and Jazmine Cook with five each; Gaquetta Horton added four and Char’Tia Turner contributed one.
Facing TPC for the first time after moving from Region 3, the Lady Pirates took a 25-22 lead into halftime before outscoring the visiting Lady Eagles 35-14 in the second half for a 60-36 win. Dejah Reed led the Lady Pirates in scoring with 25; Tomaja Shaw and Myesha Stokes scored 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Pirates
Coming off holiday wins over Leake County, Hous-ton, Marshall Academy, and Kipp Academy (Memphis), the Pirates looked to improve upon a 13-3 record.  The Pirates travelled to Bruce looking to defeat the Trojans for the fifth time in the last six matchups in this intense rivalry. After a 63-59 loss at Coffeeville in early December, Bruce came out looking for redemption and jumped out to a 15-11 first quarter lead; however, the Pirates battled back to take a 33-27 halftime lead.
As rivalries should go, the teams fought back and forth with both scoring 21 points in the third quarter. The Trojans outscored the Pirates 17-15 in the final quarter, but it was not enough as Coffeeville held on for a 69-65 win. Junior Antavius Moody and senior Devante’ Scott led the Pirates with 28 and 27 points, respectively.
A couple of signs of dominance in a basketball game are a team having multiple double-digit scorers and everyone on the roster scoring. Against visiting TCP, the Coffeeville Pirates accomplished both as they easily defeated the division foe 109-44.  
Freshman and sopho-more reserves Janairio Neal and Jodeci Spearman led the Pirates with 20 and 19 points, respectively.  An-tavius Moody scored 13; Denicholas Gladney added 12 in the win.  With the win, the Pirates improved to 15-3 overall and 1-0 in division play.
The Lady Pirates and Pirates hosted neighboring county rival Calhoun City on January 14.  
Following a short layoff, the Coffeeville teams travel to Vardaman on Friday, January 24 for a division matchup.