Senior Night for the Purvis Lady Tornadoes became a historic night for one senior as Karson Suire scored her 1,000th point on Purvis’ way to a 44-37 victory over Forrest County Agricultural. Suire finished with 11 points on the evening. Head coach Michael Thornton was proud of his senior guard and her milestone.
“Karson is the glue that holds this team together. She has to do a lot for us. She is our best ballhandler and is a great player who has great court awareness. I’m going to miss her when she graduates. Since her freshman year, she has been one of the most consistent players for us. We can always count on her intensity and tenacity. She is a complete ballplayer and one of the best players I’ve had during my coaching career,” said Thornton.
Both Purvis and Forrest County Ag started slow, combining for only 10 points in the first period with Purvis holding a two-point, 6-4 advantage after the first period of play.
The Lady Tornadoes opened things up in the second period as they went on a 16-0 run behind a Suire field foal and a trip to the foul line along with a pair of threes each from Brianna Lowe and Andee Robertson to go up 28-8 over the Aggies. A pair of threes from Brooke Blanks cut the Tornado lead to 15, 30-15, as the first half ended.
Purvis again outscored the Aggies in the third period as Suire drained a pair of field goals early. Another field goal from Robertson who made her return from a knee injury gave Purvis a 21 point lead to end the third period.
The fourth period saw Forrest County Ag outscore Purvis 18-4 in the final period as Paden Isaacs, Alyssa Murry, and Amagine Campbell all connected with threes. However, the comeback fell short for the Aggies as the 21 point lead was too much. Suire hit her final field goal of the night in the fourth period, cementing her 1,000 point milestone along with the Tornado win.
“I thought we played well in the second period. We outscored them 24-11 in that period. We were able to get Andee Robertson back tonight. This is the first time she’s played since the Lamar County Tournament when she got hurt in the finals against Oak Grove. I thought she gave us some good minutes. I thought Lowe shot well in the first half, and I thought Karson played a solid game,” said Thornton on the second-period performance.
While he thought that the Lady Tornadoes played well at times, he was not happy with how his team finished.
“I’m disappointed with the way we finished. We were outscored 18-4 in the final period and didn’t make our free throw shots. We have to start closing out better. We are 21-5 and 4-4 in the division, so we have to keep getting better.”
What’s next
Forrest County Agricultural falls to 3-15 overall and 0-8 in the district. They will host Sumrall next Tuesday night. Purvis moves to 21-5 overall and 4-4 in district play. They play host to Stone next Tuesday night.
