BASKETBALL REVIEW - Neshoba Democrat

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BASKETBALL REVIEW - Neshoba Democrat
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BASKETBALL REVIEW - Neshoba Democrat
Page 2, 2021 Basketball Review, March 24, 2021
BASKETBALL REVIEW - Neshoba Democrat
2021 Basketball Review, March 24, 2021, Page 3

                                                                                                                                                                                 Photos by Robbie Robertson

The Leake Academy girls basketball team celebrates after winning their 6th Overall Title earlier this month.

Leake Academy claims 6th Overall Title
By STEVE SWOGETINSKY               year is a forgone conclusion.                                                                         past tournament host Hillcrest    onship game but the Lady
steve@neshobademocrat.com          No one seems to know how                                                                              Christian 52-49 to make it to     Hawks held her to seven
                                   many they have won.                                                                                   the finals. Then the Rebelettes   points.
   The Leake Academy                   Winning the overall state                                                                         took on Hartfield. The Lady           “They guarded Prince,”
Rebelettes basketball pro-         championship doesn’t happen                                                                           Hawks         outsized     the    Hatch said. “She did the intan-
gram’s success is no accident.     every year. The last time the                                                                         Rebelettes but Leake Acade-       gibles like guarding well, han-
They have always put the           Rebelettes hoisted the overall                                                                        my brought its “A” game as        dling the ball and distributing
work in.                           banner in their gym was in                                                                            they won 82-45. The               it well. But they were all over
   The Rebelettes have a           2009.                                                                                                 Rebelettes led 42-17 at the       her.”
feeder program that starts             Leake Academy played for                                                                          half.                                 Senior Emmi Harkins
teaching the girls to play bas-    the overall championship                                                                                  The overall state tourna-     stepped up and scored 24
ketball when they are in ele-      twice in the last four years,                                                                         ment is usually played at Mis-    points to lead the Rebelettes in
mentary school. The team           losing to Lamar School in                                                                             sissippi College. But because     scoring. Harkins sank a free
practices year-around. They        2019 and Kirk Academy in                                                                              of the COVID-19 pandemic,         throw with 22 seconds left and
play tournaments over the hol-     2018. They won it this year,                                                                          it was moved to Hartfield         Leake Academy led 37-36.
idays. They attend summer          defeating Hartfield Academy                                                                           Academy.                          Then Morgan Freeny sank
camps and play a lot of sum-       39-36 in the Lady Hawks’                                                                                  Leake Academy drew a          two free throws to put the
mer games. All of that com-        gym.                                                                                                  first-round bye. They defeated    Rebelettes up by three and
bined was a strong desire to           “This is such a special                                                                           Jackson Prep 72-60 in the sec-    they held on for the victory.
succeed pays off.                  year,” Hatch said. “It is such a                                                                      ond round. They came back             “We did what we had to do
   For them, it’s a way of life.   hard thing to do. We had got-                                                                         and defeated Madison-Ridge-       at every moment, whether it
   With the 2020-2021 team         ten to the championship game         Leake Academy’s Miriam Prince kisses the champi-                 land Academy 44-30 in the         was make a free throw, get a
winning the Mid-South Asso-        twice before in the last four        onship trophy after winning the Overall Title.                   semifinals. Then came the         rebound or get to the rim and
ciation of Independent             years and came up short.             have done all year.              the gold ball. This year, we    rematch with Hartfield.           score,” Hatch said. “Just get-
Schools Class 4A state cham-           “It is really a hard thing to        And that’s what we did.”     have everything we need to          Leake Academy knew            ting the stop, protecting the
pionship and the overall state     do. You are playing bigger               The Rebelettes finished win the overall. There will be       Hartfield well. The Lady          basketball and hitting those
championship, the school now       schools and you are playing          37-2. They avenged their two a disappointment if we don’t.”      Hawks were a good team and        free throws was an incredible
boosts 21 state championships      them all together, back-to-          losses, beating Pillow Acade-       In the end, no Leake Acad-   the Rebelettes knew going in      series of events. Harkins real-
and six overall state tourna-      back. There isn’t a lot of           my in the North state tourna- emy follower was disappoint-       they would be making adjust-      ly took over. When we needed
ment championships in their        preparation time. You really         ment and Jackson Prep in the ed. The Rebelettes had to win       ments.                            a basket, she got it.”
school history, They have won      have to rely on the practice         first game of the overall state. three games against top oppo-       The Lady Hawks took
33 North/South state champi-       and things you have done all             “Winning the state is nents to win the state title.          extra measures to guard Miri-
onships. That the Rebelettes       year. I told the girls there is no   always our goal,” Hatch said They opened with a 70-48            am Prince, the Rebelettes’
are going to win their district    trick, no magic. We are going        earlier in the season. “But this victory over Simpson Acade-     leading scorer. Prince scored
and district tournament each       to show up and do what we            year, we have had our eye on my. They then had to battle         21 points in the state champi-
BASKETBALL REVIEW - Neshoba Democrat
Page 4, 2021 Basketball Review, March 24, 2021

Senior Mabry Mayfield (#23) leads the team off the bench to celebrate the Overall
Title victory.

Seniors help get the job
done for Leake Academy
By STEVE SWOGETINSKY               seventh grade. This senior         always, ‘Let’s get this done.
steve@neshobademocrat.com          group is a really special group.   Let’s get better.’ It is a way of
                                   There was a lot of determina-      life.
    The seniors on this year’s     tion to get this.”                     “The seniors on the court
Leake Academy girls basket-            Last season, after playing     and the ones on the bench all
ball team have accomplished        and losing in the overall state    had roles. One subbed in some
something not every class gets     finals the two previous years,     during the game. I had two,
to do.                             the flu bug hit on the wrong       they didn’t play much but they
    The 2020-2021 Rebelettes       week. The Rebelettes were          wanted to be part of the team.
are the Mid-South Association      eliminated from the playoffs       They practiced and they were
of Independent Schools Over-       and for the first time in years,   ready. There were times we
all State Tournament champi-       they didn’t win state or partic-   had people out and I called
ons in girls basketball. This is   ipate in the overall state.        their number. They were
the sixth overall champi-          Emmi Harkins said the sen-         ready to play,” Hatch said.
onship in the history of the       iors were determined to make           “Really, I didn’t have to do
school.                            it back to the overall state       a lot of coaching in practice.
    “To have that Overall State    finals one more time, and to       The seniors took care of
championship banner hanging        bring home the gold ball.          things. They set the bar and
in the gym and to know I               “Last year, things didn’t go   everybody kind of followed.
helped earn it is awesome,”        the way we wanted it to,”          A lot of times, you have sen-
said senior Mabry Mayfield.                                                                                                                                            Photos by Robbie Robertson
                                   Harkins said. “We had some-        iors who are good examples.
“It is an incredible feeling to    thing to prove for sure and it     But this year’s group set good      Senior Emmi Harkins prepares for a free throw attempt in the Overall Title game.
be part of this tradition at       being my senior year, I want-      examples and they were
Leake Academy. Basketball is       ed to go out with a bang. I        vocal. They were ready to                                                                          Senior Laura
such a huge part of our lives. I   knew we had to work hard           speak out and that’s what                                                                          Katherine Clair
have worked at this since I        every night to get to the finals   makes a good team. This was                                                                        signals for the ball
was little. And to be able to      and we did. We got it done.”       a super special group.”
                                                                                                                                                                         in the Overall Title
say we did it after all the hard       Head coach Amanda                  Graduation is coming up.
work we put in, means so                                                                                                                                                 game.
                                   Hatch wrapped up her seventh       These seniors will soon be
much.”                             season as head coach of the        part of the Rebelette alumni.
    Mayfield is one of five        Rebelettes. While at Leake             “I can remember saying I
seniors on this year’s team        Academy as a player, she was       can’t wait to graduate,” May-
that finished 37-2. Emmi           on an overall state champi-        field said. “Now I have 20
Harkins is the other senior        onship team. Now she is one        days left. I want to thank my
starter. Other senior members      of a few people who as won         coach, Leake Academy, our
were McKinley Allen,               the overall as a player and a      fanbase that always came and
    Alli Grace Perry and Laura     coach.                             supported us no matter where
Katherine Clair.                       “This senior group is a        we played; my parents who
    “When you go to Leake          really special group,” Hatch       have taken me everywhere I
Academy, when you get to the       said. “Their determination to      needed to be. And, I thank
third grade, you start learning    win this championship was          God for this school and this
to play basketball,” Mayfield      just incredible. They showed       team.”
said. “I started playing for       up every day, ready to prac-
Coach Amanda Hatch in the          tice. Never a complaint. It was
BASKETBALL REVIEW - Neshoba Democrat
2021 Basketball Review, March 24, 2021, Page 5

                                                                                                                                                                  Photos by Chris Todd

The Choctaw Central Lady Warriors pose for pictures after the MHSAA Class 4A State Basketball Championship on Thursday, March 4, 2021, at the Mississippi Coliseum
in Jackson.

Choctaw Central wraps up successful season in finals
By STEVE SWOGETINSKY             Warriors in the final four in    on and two state semi-final-
steve@neshobademocrat.com        Jackson at the Mississippi       ists. And we came back and
                                 Coliseum. In the semifinals,     beat Tishomingo County in
    The Choctaw Central          Choctaw Central defeated         the third round of the play-
Lady Warriors wrapped up         Pass Christian 72-49 to          offs. Overall, I thought we
another outstanding season       advance to the finals where      had a good season.”
that saw them finish 25-4 and    they played Pontotoc for the         Smith wrapped up his
as the runner up in the Class    Class 4A state championship.     ninth season at Choctaw Cen-
4A girls state tournament.           There, the Lady Warriors’    tral.
    The Lady Warriors went       shooting went cold. They             The COVID-19 pandemic
undefeated in the Region 4-      couldn’t buy a shot in the       hit the Mississippi Band of
4A and then won the region       third quarter as they were       Choctaw Indians hard last
tournament. They went 4-1 in     outscored 17-4 and trailed       summer. While the Lady
the state tournament and won     36-26 heading into the fourth    Warriors usually have a busy
their first three tournament     quarter.                         summer schedule with games
games at home, defeating             The Lady Warriors battled    and practice, they were able
Ripley 56-40, South Pontotoc     back and pulled to within two    to get together until after
68-32 and Tishomingo Coun-       points. But Pontotoc held on     school started.
ty 73-50.                        to win the game 55-52.               “We did have practices
    That win was big for a           “We accomplished all of      then, as much as we could,”
couple of reasons. Tishomin-     our goals but one,” said         said senior Lyleonia Johnson.
go County had defeated the       Coach Bill Smith. “We didn’t     “I remember we took it one
Lady Warriors 47-44 earlier      shoot well in the champi-        game at a time because of the
in the season. And for most of   onship game. But overall, we     COVID. We didn’t know if
the season, several polls had    finished third in the Max        we were going to play the
them ranked as the top girls     Preps rankings because of        next game or would it be can-   Choctaw Central fans cheer for the Lady Warriors at the MHSAA Class 4A State
team in Mississippi.             our strength of schedule. Our    celed. This year’s team was
    That win put the Lady                                                                         Basketball Championship on Thursday, March 4, 2021, at the Mississippi Coliseum
                                 losses were to a state champi-   close.”
                                                                                                  in Jackson.
BASKETBALL REVIEW - Neshoba Democrat
Page 6, 2021 Basketball Review, March 24, 2021

Lady Warriors overcome obstacles throughout season
By STEVE SWOGETINSKY
steve@neshobademocrat.com

    When the Choctaw Central sen-
iors look back at their final year as
Lady Warrior basketball players,
they will think about the 25 games
they won.
    They will remember going unde-
feated during the regular season in
Region 4-4A competition and then
winning the district tournament.
They will remember their march
through the state playoffs to the
Class 4A finals. In the state champi-
onship game, they will remember
being outscored 17-4 in the third
quarter but then battling back to pull
within three points with seconds
left. And they will remember the
sting of that 55-52 loss to Pontotoc.
    Still, the seniors were happy to
just have a season. The 2020-2021
basketball season was an unusual
year because of the COVID-19 pan-
demic. There were no summer prac-
tices. Teams could be quarantined
and would have to forfeit games if
players tested positive.
    “It was an unusual season with
the COVID,” said Lyleonia John-
son. “We didn’t get to practice dur-
ing the summer and I was afraid we
would be out of shape in the early
part of the season. It showed. We
usually do a lot of running.”
    Johnson talked about what the
Lady Warriors basketball means to
the Mississippi Band of Choctaw
Indians and how she and her team-
mates wanted to do well for their
people.
    “There is a lot of tradition
involved,” Johnson said. “We are
representing the tribe. Everybody
knows we are going to be competi-
tive every year. Our goal is to win
the state championship. So, we get a
lot of support from the tribe.”
    Senior Meloney Thames, who
was the district MVP and played in
the Mississippi-Alabama all-star         Choctaw Central's Carly Keats (21) drives against Pontotoc at the MHSAA Class 4A State Basketball Championship on Thursday,
game, said she was proud of the sea-     March 4, 2021, at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.
son.
    “It is really a blessing that we     proud of my girls.”                    learned to play. I played AAU ball.     threw us off. We had to get into       thing seem to go by so fast?
had a season and were able play for         Sarah Williams said it was an       That coach and Bill Smith really        shape quick because the season was         “Yes. Now we are going our sep-
the state championship because of        honor to be a Lady Warrior.            helped me.”                             going to start. We had new girls who   arate ways and that is sad,”
the COVID,” Thames said in inter-           “When I tried out my freshman           COVID-19 proved to be a tough       moved up. But we kept pushing and      Williams said. “But it has been a
view after the state championship        year, I couldn’t dribble well,”        obstacle, Williams said.                got ready to play.”                    great experience. I will always be a
game. “We were quarantined a cou-        Williams said. “My skills weren’t          “At first, I was bummed,”              Other seniors on the team were      Lady Warrior fan — those are my
ple of weeks before we started the       where they needed to be.               Williams said. “We didn’t play as       Laliana Crosby and Shantashia          girls. It was an honor to be playing
season. We weren’t able to practice         “I didn’t think I was going to      many summer games like we usual-        John.                                  here.”
like we normally did. For a short        make it but I made junior varsity my   ly do. We weren’t able to practice or      Williams summed it up when
season, I am proud of it. I was really   freshman year. I was happy and         have a summer league and that           asked if looking back, did every-
BASKETBALL REVIEW - Neshoba Democrat
2021 Basketball Review, March 24, 2021, Page 7
BASKETBALL REVIEW - Neshoba Democrat
Page 8, 2021 Basketball Review, March 24, 2021

Lady Rockets looking for return trip to Jackson
By STEVE SWOGETINSKY                      seventh grade, we have talented
steve@neshobademocrat.com                 young players coming up in our pro-
                                          gram.”
    When Jason Broom looks back at            That includes junior Hama’ya
his first season as head coach of the     Fielder who led the team in scoring
Neshoba Central Lady Rockets, he          with an 18.3 average.
hopes it’s the start of more good             “We are looking for long-term
things to come.                           longevity,” Broom said. “Not that
    The Lady Rockets finished the         anything was broken. Coach Fred
season with a 22-6 record. After an       Morris’ team won the state champi-
ice storm delayed the tournament for      onship in 2017 and went back to
several days at the start, teams had to   Jackson the next season. We want to
play three games in five days the         continue to compete on that level.”
next week to get back on schedule.            Broom said a lot of things have to
    When the Class 5A state tourna-       happen right for a team to make it to
ment started, the Lady Rockets took       the state finals. It can go either way.
a 59-25 win over Grenada. Neshoba             “There are plenty of good coach-
Central went on to defeat Vicksburg       es and their teams who got to Jack-
73-66 and Cleveland 52-48.                son and lost. They swore they would
    That victory put them in the Mis-     be back. And then it doesn’t pan out,”
sissippi Coliseum in Jackson for the      Broom said. “And other teams make
Final Four. But then they dropped a       it back and win.
65-52 to Laurel. The Golden Torna-            “Take Laurel. They made it to the
does went on to win the state cham-       final four and got beat last year. They
pionship.                                 made it back and won the state
    “Anytime you have a good group        championship this year. They knew
of seniors, you hate for them that we     how to handle their business.”
didn’t get that fourth win and                Broom said the Lady Rockets
advance to the finals,” Broom said.       have plenty to be proud of.
“But this can be the building of a            “Making it to Jackson is a big
foundation. Maybe one day they will       deal,” Broom said. “Playing in the
look back and be proud of what they       Coliseum is different. I felt like we
were a part of starting.                  played well against Laurel. They
    “We have three starters coming        made plays. But our kids should
back. We have good young talent           walk away feeling good about our
coming back. And down through the         season.”

Neshoba Central head coach Jason Broom applauds the Lady
                                                                                                                                                                  Photos by Chris Todd
Rockets defensive effort at the MHSAA State Basketball Tourna-
ment semifinals on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, at the Mississippi                       Neshoba Central's Veronica Williams (23) shoots against Laurel at the MHSAA State Basketball
Coliseum in Jackson.                                                                Tournament semifinals on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.
BASKETBALL REVIEW - Neshoba Democrat
2018 Basketball Review, March 24, 2021, Page 9

Neshoba Central head coach Jason Broom talks to the Lady Rockets during a time out at the MHSAA State Basketball Tournament semifinals on Tuesday, March 2, 2021,
at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.

Broom: Neshoba Central seniors are a special group
By STEVE SWOGETINSKY                       Onnahali Williams, Elleigh Willis,             “She was a quiet player who did      and see that success was built on what    will be able to get together,
steve@neshobademocrat.com                  Bailey Willis, Sanaa Merrell and           her job,” he said. “Onnahali and         they established, even prior to their         “We have been through a season
                                           Mahli Mitch.                               Elleigh were the first players off the   senior year. This has been a successful   with COVID-19 and know the health
    Coach Jason Broom said the                 “They were a group that compli-        bench. A big part of our game was        program under coach Morris and            risks and what precautions to take.
strong leadership of his senior players    mented each other well and brought         having starter-quality players coming    Byrd. The 2017 team won the state         Hopefully, we can play in high school
led to Neshoba Central’s success this      different strengths to the table,” Coach   off the bench and getting minutes.       championship.”                            gyms and maybe we will be able to
past season.                               Broom said. “Jeleisya Jim on many          Sanaa Merrell was the spirit of the          The Lady Rockets didn’t have a        play on some college campuses.”
    The Lady Rockets finished with a       nights set the tone for us defensively.    team, working hard every day. You        normal summer schedule of workouts            Broom is looking forward to next
22-6 record and made it to Jackson         She ran the point guard position.          would see the other girls cheer when     and games because of the COVID-19         season
where they dropped a 65-52 decision            “She had a bad ankle sprain at         they had success.”                       pandemic. Broom is hoping it will be          “We had a good year,” Broom
to Laurel in the semifinals of the Class   Vicksburg and had to be carried off            Broom said they will be missed       different this summer.                    said. “Now let’s tweak some things
5A girls state basketball tournament.      the floor. She was hobbled but she         after graduation.                            “Right now, I am not sure what the    and get a little bit better. We will have
    That was the final game as Lady        came back and played.”                         “They were a solid group of play-    colleges are going to do,” Broom said.    experience on our side when we open
Rockets for starters Shante’ Beaulieu          Broom said Beaulieu was the glue       ers,” Broom said. “I hope they will be   “But I hope summer will be back to        next year.”
and Jeleisya Jim, and reserve players      that held everything together.             able to look back in a couple of years   normal. Hopefully, the high schools
BASKETBALL REVIEW - Neshoba Democrat
Page 10, 2021 Basketball Review, March 24, 2021
2021 Basketball Review, March 24, 2021, Page 11

Tornadoes teams improve as season progresses
By STEVE SWOGETINSKY                       and all we had to do was believe in
steve@neshobademocrat.com                  ourselves and we would do well,”
                                           Taylor said.
    The Philadelphia Lady Tornadoes            With several senior starters from
earned their biggest win of the sea-       last year lost to graduation, Spurlock
son when they defeated Newton              said she knew she was taking over
High School in the semifinals of the       during a rebuilding year.
Region 6-2A basketball tournament.             Despite the COVID-19 pandem-
    “That was fun,” said first year        ic, the Lady Tornadoes were able to
Lady Tornadoes coach Danielle              hold practices starting in July.
Spurlock. “Newton is always the                “We practiced pretty faithfully,”
team to beat and we lost to them           Spurlock said. “We couldn’t do after
twice during the season. Then we           school practice until Oct. 15 but we
beat them in the district tournament       did in-school practice.
which was a huge accomplishment                “I had them in the fall because we
for my girls.”                             don’t play slow-pitch softball any-
    Philadelphia entered the tourna-       more. I stressed fundamentals, doing
ment as the No. 5-seeded team and          the simple things right. I kept telling
had to beat Scott Central in an elimi-     them basketball is not rocket science.
nation game before they got a chance       We had to learn the fundamentals
to play Newton.                            and basics. If we did that, I knew we
    “My girls really worked hard to        could win some ball games.”
get to the championship game,”                 Freshman Zharia Leflore stepped
Spurlock said. “They played hard           up and became the team’s leading
and found a way to beat Newton.            scorer. She averaged 20 points per
    “That put us in the championship       game but had a couple of nights
game,” Spurlock said. “We lost to          when she scored 30 points.
Union, a team that we beat twice dur-          “I would say we were under
ing the regular season. They ended         developed at the start,” Spurlock
up beating us. But the Newton win          said. “The players before them had
gave us that boost and confidence to       been pretty good and these girls did-
make it as far as they did.”               n’t have a tremendous amount of
    The Lady Tornadoes entered the         playing time. That helps you devel-
Class 2A playoffs for the first time in    op. They started a little under devel-
two seasons. They defeated Wesson          oped but they worked.”
44-34 and then lost 61-40 to Bay               Spurlock is in her third year with
Springs. They ended the season with        the Philadelphia schools. She
a 9-10 record.                             coached junior high all three years.
    “After placing last in district last   She was an assistant varsity coach
season and not making it to the play-      last year and took the varsity head
offs, we felt like we had something to     coach job this year.”
prove,” senior Emma Taylor said.
“We were better than that. If we                          Tornadoes
applied ourselves and pushed our-             The Philadelphia boys made it to
selves, we could do it.                    the second round of the playoffs. The
    “We were in a hole when we went        Tornadoes defeated Loyd Star 73-45
into the district tournament. We were      but then lost to St. Patrick 60-43 in
fifth seed again but Mrs. Spurlock         the second round. Philadelphia fin-
continued to support us and encour-        ished with a 10-11 record.
age us. She told us she believed in us

                                                                                     Philadelphia’s Zykileous Moore goes for a loose ball against East Webster earlier in the season.
Page 12, 2021 Basketball Review, March 24, 2021

                                                  A   ub
2021 Basketball Review, March 24, 2021, Page 13

Philadelphia seniors were ready when it was their turn
By STEVE SWOGETINSKY                            “This year, Mrs. Danielle Spur-
steve@neshobademocrat.com                   lock was our coach. She stressed fun-
                                            damentals and we improved as the
    Seniors Emma Taylor, Markasia           season went along.”
Dupree and Jaenasha Clemons all                 Dupree said the highlight was
started playing Philadelphia Lady           beating Newton.
Tornado basketball in the seventh               “We had never beaten Newton
grade.                                      before, and it was a great accomplish-
    Before this season, only Taylor         ment,” Dupree said. “That night, I felt
had been a starter. But all three seniors   we could win the championship.”
started this season and helped lead the         Taylor agreed with Dupree’s feel-
Lady Tornadoes to a big upset victory       ings about the Newton win.
over Newton in the second round of              “For the seniors, it was a big deal,”
the Region 6-2A tournament and into         Taylor said. “We had never beaten
the second round of the playoffs.           Newton and they are our rival in bas-
    “We have watched each other             ketball.”
grow as people as well as players,”             Making it to the playoffs was also
Taylor said. “The improvement that          a big deal.
we have made has been amazing.”                 “I had never played in a playoff
    Dupree detailed her progression.        game,” Taylor said, “The last time we
    “A lot of things changed and we         made it, I was an under classman and
had to step up this year,” Dupree said.     didn’t get to play. It was a lot of fun to
“In our ninth and 10th grade years, it      play in the game.”
was easy because we had the older               Seniors for the Philadelphia boys        Members of the Philadelphia High School girls basketball team are, front left to right, Niasia
players ahead of us. My junior year,        were J.J. Hudson, Trezekius Bingham          Moore, Pashae Roberson, Jaiden Burnside, Zharia Leflore, Markasia Dupree, Hailey Donald,
we had a new coach. Nia Luckett, our        and Trea Hunter.                             Ariel Burnside (back) Shaytrece Mingo, Kacey Nickey, Jaenasha Clemons, Emma Taylor, Jada
top player, got hurt and it was differ-
                                                                                         Gray, Ambriah Parker, Zariyah Jackson, and Nisha McCarty.
ent.
Page 14, 2021 Basketball Review, March 24, 2021

Yellowjackets teams make it to the playoffs
By STEVE SWOGETINSKY                      15 his second season and 23-8 the
steve@neshobademocrat.com                 third year. This year, they finished
                                          25-7 and won the district.
   Both Union High School basket-             The Lady Yellowjackets will lose
ball teams put together outstanding       three seniors this season: Keshona
seasons.                                  Smoot, Taniqua Hunter and Trinity
   The Lady Yellowjackets finished        Lambert.
with a 25-7 record under fourth year
head coach Matt Wilbanks. They                           Union boys
won the Region 6-2A tournament                The Union High School Yellow-
championship.                             jackets wrapped up an outstanding
   They then went on to win three         season in which they finished 19-8
Class 2A tournament games in five         under head coach John Darnell.
days as they defeated Bogue Chitto            The Yellowjackets finished sec-
46-43, Puckett 61-31 and West Lin-        ond in the district tournament, losing
coln 35-32. West Lincoln eliminated       to Newton High. They beat Wesson
the Lady Yellowjackets the year           53-35 in the first round of the play-
before and that evened the score.         offs but then lost a 54-48 decision at
   Union advanced the Class 2A            Bay Springs.
final four in at Jackson in the Missis-       The Yellowjackets will lose six
sippi Coliseum where they dropped a       seniors and four starters to gradua-
44-29 decision to defending state         tion: Jamarcus Jones, Dylan Harri-
champion Calhoun City.                    son, E.J. Campbell, Bryce Young,
   The Lady Yellowjacket have             Robert Craft and Troy Campbell.
improved record wise in each of               Next season, Union will be mov-
Wilbanks’ four seasons. In his first      ing up to Class 3A.
year, they went 15-13. They went 17-

Members of the Union High School girls basketball team are,
front row left to right: Sydney Coward, Kataya Bishop, Keirra
Russell, Kamyia Russell, Camenesha Holiday, Aamagine Tay-
lor. Back row from left: Georgia Cooper, Maddie Cook, Taniqua
Hunter, Trinity Lambert, Ramaiyah McDonald, manager,
Keshona Smoot, Madison Buckley, Morgan Shaw and Anna
Shaw.

                                                                                   Union’s Kenyon Clay makes a pass against Newton earlier in the season.
2021 Basketball Review, March 24, 2021, Page 15

Members of the Choctaw Central girls basketball team are, front row left to right,   Members of the Neshoba Central girls basketball team are, front row left to right,
Yuri Crosby, Kylie Williamson, Mattison Bell, Lyleonia Johnson, Shantashia           Rodezah Smith, Hama’ya Fielder, Onnahili Williams, Sanaa Merrell, Heaven
John, Tyra Billy, (back) Meloney Thames, LaLiana Crosby, Sara Williams, Joce-        Dixon, Jalesiya Jim, Shante Beaulieu (Back) Veronica Williams, Bailey Willis,
lyn Bell, Kyla Farmer, Carly Keats and Neera Bell.                                   Elleigh Willis, Mataeya Dixon, Shaylynn Hunter, Katelin Williams, Aaliyah Tahah-
                                                                                     wah, Mahli Mitch*, Denise Denson and Nalani Thompson.

Members of the Leake Academy girls basketball team are, front row left to right, Morgan Freeny, Natalie Vaughn, manager Parker Woods, Grace Maxie and McKinley
Peoples, (middle) Ramzy Beth Johnston, McKinley Allen, Emmi Harkins, Mabry Mayfield, Laura Katherine Clair, Alli Grace Perry, Laney Turner and Parks Chandler,
(back) manager Caitlin McDonald, Miriam Prince, Kaleigh Wooten, Maggie Stevens, Kayte Jones, Emeri Warren, Allen Kaye Wilcox and manager Tori Pigg.
Page 16, 2021 Basketball Review, March 24, 2021

                        Two Teams - One Tribe
                    Congratu
                           ulations on a Great Season   ®
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