The Nanih Waiya Warriors improved to 5-8 on the season as they picked up two more wins last week, beating MAIS opponents Kemper Academy 57-42 and Winston Academy 53-52.
The Lady Warriors also picked up a win last week as they beat Kemper Academy 40-34 before falling 49-23 to Winston.
Nanih Waiya will be off for the Christmas break and will return to action on Friday, Jan. 4 when they travel to Sebastopol. They will open division play the next week as they host Hamilton on Tuesday, Jan. 8 and travel to Vardaman on Friday. Jan. 11
Nanih Waiya boys 53, Winston Academy 52
The Warriors built a big lead and held off a late charge by the Patriots to take a one-point win on Thursday night.
Nanih Waiya led 9-6 at the end of the first and 25-17 at the half. The Warriors outscored the Patriots 13-8 in the third to extend the lead to 43-25 going into the fourth. The Patriots stormed back in the fourth and outscored the Warriors 27-15. But the Warriors hit 7-of-11 free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
“It was a good win for our guys,” Nanih Waiya coach Jason Morgan said. “That’s probably our best three quarters of the year. We got a little lazy in the fourth and let them get some easy baskets but made our free throws down the stretch to get the win.”
Ethan Dailey led Nanih Waiya with 19 points while Jordan Higginbotham had eight points. Jaynus William and Izaiaha Nicholson each had six points apiece.
Winston Academy girls 49, Nanih Waiya 23
The Lady Patriots ran out to a big first-half lead and cruised to the 26-point win.
Winston led 11-5 at the end of the first and 27-9 at the half. Nanih Waiya used an 8-4 advantage in the third to cut the lead to 31-17 before Winston pulled away in the fourth, outscoring the Lady Warriors 18-6.
Bria Tubby led Nanih Waiya with eight points.
Nanih Waiya boys 57, Kemper Academy 42
The Warriors outscored the Rams in three of the four periods as they took a 15-point win on Tuesday night.
Nanih Waiya led 19-11 at the end of the first and 32-21 at the half. Kemper outscored Nanih Waiya 14-13 in the third to make the score 45-35 going into the fourth. The Warriors then outscored the Rams 12-7 in the fourth.
Tyquan McCully led the Warriors with 15 points while Ethan Dailey had eight points. Rodney Welch and Jordan Higginbotham each had seven points apiece while Jaynus Williams had five points. Dailey and Williams each had six rebounds apiece while McCuclly, Welch and Higginbotham each had four rebounds.
Nanih Waiya girls 40, Kemper Academy 34
The Lady Warriors picked up their third win of the season and second over Kemper Academy on Tuesday night.
Nanih Waiya led 14-9 at the end of the first and led 22-16 at the half. Kemper cut into the lead in the third, outscoring Nanih Waiya 11-5 in the third to tie the game at 27-27. The Lady Warriors then pulled away in the fourth, outscoring the Lady Rams 13-7 to take the win.
Dallyn Nance led Nanih Waiya with 10 point while Madison Alford had nine points. Hannah Higginbotham also chipped in six points.
