Friday, Jan. 4, briefs

HAUGHTON GIRLS REACH SEMIFINALS OF LAKESIDE TOURNEY

The Haughton Lady Bucs face Northwood at 3:30 p.m. today in the semifinals of the Lakeside basketball tournament.

The Lady Bucs (12-4) defeated Bossier 53-46 in Wednesday’s first round and Haynesville 56-33 in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Mikayla Barber scored a team-high 15 points in both games to lead Haughton. Ebone’ Green had 11 points against Haynesville and 10 against Bossier. Mattie McCoy scored 12 against Bossier. Chelcy Swint had eight against Haynesville.

Deniera McGlothan led Bossier with 15 points, and Tiffany Lynn had 14.

Bossier rebounded from the loss and advanced to the consolation finals with a 57-49 victory over Lakeside.

Lynn led the Lady Kats (7-10) with 14 points. Bree Williams added 10, and Makayla King chipped in with eight. Bossier faces the Calvary-Loyola winner for the consolation title at 3:30 Satuday.

The Haughton boys lost to Evangel 55-47 Thursday and will face Loyola at 8 tonight in the consolation bracket.

WEST SCORES 10 AS NSU OPENS SLC PLAY WITH WIN

NATCHITOCHES — Northwestern State freshman Jalan West, a former Bossier star, scored 10 points as the Demons opened Southland Conference play with a 78-63 victory over McNeese State Thursday night.

West also had five assists and three rebounds as the Demons improved to 7-4 overall. Brison White led NSU with 20 points. DeQuan Hicks scored 14.

NSU KICKER RECEIVES TWO NATIONAL ACADEMIC HONORS

NATCHITOCHES — Northwestern State senior kicker John Shaughnessy picked up a pair of prestigious awards for excellence as a scholar-athlete Thursday, being included on the 2012 FCS Athletic Directors Association Academic All-Star Team presented by KP Sports, and the College Sports Journal’s FCS All-Academic Team.

A National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors Association panel chose the 54-man ADA Academic All-Star Team, while a panel of FCS experts chose the College Sports Journal’s 42-man roster of standout football and academic performers.

A second-team All-Southland Conference selection in 2012 after earning first-team all-conference honors last year, Shaughnessy is among the most accurate kickers in school history. He has a 3.69 grade point average in biology, will be recognized for the third straight year as an Academic All-Southland Conference Team member next week, and has been nominated as the SLC Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

TWO TECH PLAYERS TO PLAY IN NFLPA COLLEGIATE BOWL

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Louisiana Tech center Stephen Warner and receiver Myles White have committed to play in the 2013 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, the NFLPA announced Thursday. Warner and White are just two of the draft-eligible seniors competing in the all-star game on Jan.19 at The Home Depot Center on the campus of California State University Dominguez Hills in Carson, Calif.