[1/16/04]Don’t look now, but the Porters Chapel Academy Eagles have become the hottest team in town.

Chip Lofton had 18 points and six steals, and Allen Cassell scored 13 points as PCA beat Humphreys, 49-40 on Friday night. It was the Eagles’ (10-10, 6-5 Conference 5-A) sixth straight win after they had lost 10 of 12.

“We started the season off horrible, and we’re just playing a lot better as a team now,” Lofton said. “Everybody’s passing the ball around, we’re not having two or three people score in double digits, everybody’s scoring high, and we’re getting really good looks.”

Will Rowland led Humphreys (4-7 in conference play) with 13 points and Dan Ivey scored nine for PCA, which got a big lead early, then hung on at the end.

The Eagles shot a blistering 60 percent (9-for-15) from the floor in the second quarter to seize control of the game. The Eagles outscored Humphreys 21-6 in the second to take a 27-17 lead into halftime, and stretched their advantage to as many as 21 points in the third quarter.

Humphreys rallied late in the third, however, and continued it into the fourth. Rowland’s breakaway dunk with 2.6 seconds remaining in the third made it 42-27, and PCA started the fourth quarter with turnovers on its first five possessions.

The swoon allowed Humphreys to hack the deficit to nine points, 42-33, before Ryan Hoben found a cutting Michael Warren for a transition layup with five minutes to play in the game.

“I warned the guys before the first quarter not to give them any hope, and we did exactly that,” PCA coach Kevin Griffin said. “In this six-game winning streak we’ve done a great job of not giving them any hope in the fourth quarter and letting people back in games.”

Humphreys didn’t fold, though. As PCA’s offense continued to struggle, the Rebels’ Cody Towery hit a 3-pointer and Shelby Lloyd added a layup to make it 44-40 with 1:40 to play.

Then, as quickly as it had begun, the rally evaporated into thin air. Humphreys turned the ball over on four straight possessions and missed a 3-pointer on its final one.

PCA did just enough at the free throw line to preserve the win, going 5-for-10 in the last two minutes, and escaped with the victory.

“We were trying to get the ball down the floor too fast instead of really looking at the floor, and we made a few bad passes,” Humphreys coach Steven Makamson said.

(G) PCA 43, Humphreys 26

Annie Beaugh scored a game-high 26 points and nabbed eight steals as Porters Chapel (14-9, 7-4) plodded along to a win over Humphreys (10-8, 6-5).

Allison Horn added nine points and Amy Beaugh had eight points and eight assists for the Lady Eagles, who jumped out to a 17-5 lead after one quarter and sat on it the entire game.

“We played a lot slower, but it’s looking a lot better than we have been,” said Annie Beaugh, who helped PCA to its second straight victory after four losses in a row.

(B) H-AHS 64, St. Andrew’s 59

Junior Mario Webb scored a game-high 27 points, snagged 14 rebounds and had five steals to lead Hinds AHS (16-4, 6-0 Division 6-2A).

Carl Carson and Joseph White each added 10 points in the win, and White grabbed 13 rebounds.

The War Dawgs are scheduled to host Madison-St. Joe on Tuesday.