Choctaw County will play Houston in the semifinals of the Region 4-3A boys basketball tournament at Hatley Thursday, with tipoff scheduled for 4 p.m. The Chargers finished third in the five team region with a 2-2 record.
In games last week, Choctaw County defeated Hatley 62-38 and West Point 57-42 in a non region game and lost to Noxubee County 55-45.
Choctaw County was led in all three games by the dynamic duo of Caleb Cunningham and Calvin Roberts. Cunningham totaled 63 points with 31 against Hatley, 17 against West Point and 15 against Noxubee County. Roberts scored 62 points – 20 against Hatley, 19 against West Point and 23 in the Noxobee County game.
The Chargers jumped out to a quick lead against Hatley and breezed to the victory. That was big because it meant that Choctaw County would finish no worse than third in the region, assuring a spot in the 3A playoffs.
Noxubee is the regular season champion with a 4-0 record, followed by Houston (3-1), Choctaw County, Aberdeen (1-3) and Hatley (0-4).
Aberdeen and Hatley met in an opening round game. The winner plays Noxubee County Thursday. Championship and consolation games are scheduled for Friday. If the Chargers win Thursday, they will play for the championship at 8 p.m, With a loss, they will play at 4 p.m.
The Chargers were sluggish early against West Point, leading 18-16 at the half. That didn't surprise coach Gary Beals, playing a road game for the second night in a row. But he said, “We had the pace where we wanted it.”
A press enabled Choctaw County to pull away in the fourth quarter. Tylan Carter scored 10 points.
The Chargers led Noxubee County 19-11in the second quarter, but the Tigers pulled within a point 22-21 at the half, then wore Choctaw County down in the second half.
Hatley was the team's first game in two weeks following a quarantine. “I'm very proud of them to come back off a two-week break and win,” Beals said. “I'm proud of the senior leadership I have had. I couldn't ask for three better seniors.”
Seniors are Carter, Zay Coleman and Zavier White.
Choctaw County will play a team from 1-3A – Booneville, Amory, Nettleton, Alcorn Central, Bemont and Kossuth – in the opening round of the 3A playoffs next Tuesday. If the Chargers defeat Houston Thursday, they will be at home. With a loss they will have to go on the road.
Choctaw girls season ends with quarantine
By Laurence Hilliard
Choctaw Plaindealer
Quarantine brought the Choctaw County girls basketball season came to a disappointing end.
The Lady Chargers were unable to play any games last week and will not participate in this weeks 4-3A tournament at Hatley.
Choctaw County's last game was January 19 against East Webster. When the 2021-22 season begins, Choctaw County will be a 2A school.
Huge week leads to another tourney win for GSC Eagles
By Cooper Sanders
This past week the Eagles won their own Grace Christian School Invitational Tournament, claiming four victories over the span of two days.
It all started with a 59-15 win over New Life Christian on Friday, which saw the Eagles open the game off on a 25-0 run.
Later that day the Eagles defeated Regents School of Oxford 55-36 in the second round of the tournament. Micah Ballard led with 13 points and five assists, while Jacob Phillips had 12 points and nine boards.
The next day in the semi-final matchup against Starkville Christian, the Eagles won 38-24. Phillips had 10 points with six rebounds, while Asher Hogue had nine points with five rebounds, while also blocking two shots. The Eagles would then face Regents School of Oxford once again, this time being for the championship.
The Eagles won the championship game by a score of 44-25. Ballard scored 14 points to go along with four assists, which aided him in being named tournament MVP.
“(We played) great team basketball at the tournament this weekend. A real hunger to get stops on defense, and every game we really shared the ball on offense," said GSC head coach Jason Morgan. The Eagles also played Delta Streets Academy earlier in the week losing 73-39.
The Lady Eagles came up short in the championship after losing to Starkville Christian. The Lady Eagles previously won two of three games to advance to the championship.
“We kept up with them in both games we played against them but in the final game we definitely ran out of gas. Turnovers and having a very rough offensive game definitely led to our coming up short in the championship game,” said Coach Taylor Troyer. Leading scorers for the tournament were Aspen Harris and Grace Marie Holman while leading rebounders were Mia Brownlee and Carolyn Hogue. The Lady Eagles will not play until time for the conference tournament, while the Eagles will play Heritage Baptist on Tuesday before facing Tupelo Homeschool on Friday.
