By Laurence Hilliard
Choctaw Plaindealer
The Choctaw County Lady Chargers ended 2017 on a high note, winning three games to claim the championship of the East Webster Christmas Tournament.
“I'm proud of them,” CCHA head girls coach Cory Guyton said of his players. “We finished the first half of the season pretty strong.”
Choctaw County defeated Baldwyn 60-55 and Winston Academy 41-25 in the first two rounds, then closed out Starkville Academy 55-44 in the championship game.
A strong performance inside by LaGenesis Johnson with 14 points and 10 blocked shots was the key against Baldwyn. “She was awesome,” Guyton said. “She maintained the paint for us. Those blocks led to easy baskets for us.”
Choctaw County took a 42-33 lead through three quarters and held on for the win. Lakyshia Mitchell led the Lady Chargers in scoring with 17 points and Brysa Maxwell added 15.
Choctaw County broke open the Winston Academy game with a 13-0 run to start the third quarter that gave the Lady Charges a 33-14 lead. Maxwell had 16 points and Johnson 13.
“I was glad to get some good play out of the bench,” Guyton said. “I tell them that all 17 of us contribute.”
In particular, he praised the play of sophomore Alaysia Weeks and junior Ta'miracle Patie off the bench, Weeks for her defense and Patie at point guard. “She ran the offense and got it to our key players,” Guyton said.
Against Starkville Academy, the Lady Choctaws led by as many as 26 points. Maxwell was high scorer with 25 points. Mitchell had 14 points and Laiana Cork was a key contributor with 12 points and eight rebounds, half of them on the offensive end.
“She was a difference maker,” Guyton said of Cork. “We started off kind of slow and she gave us a spark. She had some offensive rebounds in the second quarter that kind of energized us and we took off from there.”
It was the third time that Choctaw County had defeated Starkville Academy.
The Lady Chargers improved to 12-5. They will return to the court next Tuesday with a home game against Kosciusko before opening play in MHSAA Region 4-3A at South Pontotoc Jan. 12.
“I feel confident that if we play to our ability, we will be successful in district play,” Guyton said.
CCHS BOYS
Choctaw County rebounded from an opening-game loss at the East Webster tournament last week with two victories to finish 2017 with a 9-6 record. After dropping a 53-45 decision to Baldwyn, the Chargers defeated Winston Academy 86-28 and Starkville Academy 61-41.
Akeem Kirkwood was outstanding for the Chargers in the tournament with 71 points on 31 of 47 (66 percent) shooting from the floor. “He's our bell cow,” said coach Gary Beals.
Twenty-four turnovers and a poor shooting first half that left Choctaw County on the short end of a 28-10 score at intermission, doomed the Chargers against Baldwyn.
“We just weren't ready to play the first half,” Beals said. “We didn't handle the ball very well. They (Baldwyn) got after us man to man full court.”
Kirkwood connected on 11 of 18 shots and scored 25 points. Devonta Miller added 10.
Choctaw County had no trouble against Winston County, taking leads of 23-8 after one quarter and 53-14 at halftime. Kirkwood scored 16 points and had 11 rebounds and nine steals. Miller was the scoring leader with 17 points, thanks to five of eight shooting as the Chargers shot 50 percent (36 of 72).
The easy win allowed Beals to clear his bench. All 17 payers saw court time and 12 scored. He was especially pleased with the contribution of Israel Whitmore off the bench with eight points.
Kirkwood had a sensational first quarter against Starkville Academy, hitting five straight 3-pointers and scoring 22 points. “He was unreal in the first quarter,” Beals said.
Kirkwood finished with 30 points on 12 of 15 from the floor and added 10 rebounds. Steven Triplett was in double figures with 17 points and Miller had nine assists and seven rebounds.
Beals' major concern going forward is a lack of scoring in the paint. “We're depending too much on our guard play. Baldwyn exposed that.”
