Choctaw Plaindealer
Choctaw County is going to the Big Show. The Chargers defeated Amanda Elzy 67-60 Monday to advance to the Elite Eight of the MHSAA 3A playoffs.
It was the 10th straight victory for Choctaw County, which improved to 22-9. The Chargers will play Tylertown at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Mississippi Coliseum.
“We were down early, but we had a great third quarter and an awesome fourth quarter,” said coach Gary Beals. The Chargers trailed 29-15 at the half, then outscored the Panthers 21-15 in the third quarter for a 46-44 win, and 21-16 in the fourth quarter for the victory.
Akeem Kirkwood had another big game for Choctaw County with 30 points. Devonta Miller scored 13 and Jeremy Miller had 12.
The Chargers had a much easier time in the opening round, a 67-36 victory over Mantachie.
“We played really well. I'm really proud of them,” Beals said. “We came out and did what a 1 is suppose to do to a 4, put the game away early.”
Choctaw County was the Number 1 seed from Region 4 as a result of winning the region tournament and Mantachie was Number 4 from Region 1. The Chargers scored the first seven points, led 15-2 at the end of the first quarter and kept building on the lead. It was 30-12 at the half and 49-19 through three quarters.
The big lead allowed Beals to use his bench. “We were able to get a lot of people in and hopefully that will help us build some depth.”
Kirkwood led the Chargers with 22 points and Jeremy Miller added 12.
Beals praised the play of Rakeim Ashford off the bench. “He has helped us a whole lot on defense in this winning streak.”
Tylertown is 20-5 with playoff wins over Kemper County 66-46 and Hazlehurst 82-78.
