TUPELO - Tupelo's bench was the difference Monday night.

A host of reserve players, led by Deontaye Ewing, scored 22 points in the first half to help lead the Golden Wave to its first win of the young season, a 92-62 decision against Okolona in the Tupelo Tip-Off Challenge.

Ewing, who played cornerback Friday night for the football team, scored 17 points in his first action to pace Tupelo.

"Deontaye was a big player for us last year," Wave coach Grant Pate said. "We had some guys come in off the bench and play well."

Another one of those players was Rashon Coleman, whose steal and layup capped a 23-2 Tupelo run in the second quarter that erased a 15-15 first-quarter tie. The Golden Wave went on to take a 46-25 halftime lead.

Okolona star guard David Gardner led all scorers with 24 points, but was never a factor. Dilan Blanchard added 16 for the Chieftains.

"We tried to keep the ball out of (Gardner's) hands," Pate said. "He's an excellent player."

Tupelo opened its season Saturday with a 68-57 loss to one of the state's top-rated teams, Jackson Wingfield.

"We were disappointed with our game Saturday," Pate said. "The kids played with more intensity and emotion tonight. We played a good team and we raised our expectations."

Starters Telvin Hadley and Byrne Marshall scored 15 and 12, respectively, for Tupelo.

Lady Wave 2-0

Okolona's Quinndella Ford poured in a game-high 31 points, but Tupelo countered with nine 3-pointers to take a 58-44 win.

Amber Jackson connected on two of the 3-pointers and finished with 21 points to lead the Lady Wave, which improved to 2-0.

Tupelo's defenders, mainly Dasia Mosley, held the high-scoring Ford to 10 points in the first half. She was just 5 of 16 from the field and committed three turnovers.

Jackson's 3-point play with 3:35 remaining in the third quarter gave Tupelo a break-away 38-26 lead. She sank back-to-back 3-pointers early in the fourth period to push the Wave's lead to 50-36.

Afton Goree had three 3-pointers to pace Tupelo's perimeter game.

Brandon bomber

New Hope's Johnathan Brandon scored 32 points to lead the Trojans to a 79-51 win against Corinth.

In the girls game, Kierra Payne's 18 led Corinth to a 46-41 victory against the Lady Trojans.