Since Choctaw Central moved into the Class 4A ranks, they have been the team to beat for Louisville.
The Lady Wildcats won a 4A state championship just three years ago without having to go through the Lady Warriors, but the last three seasons have belonged to CCHS. That included last year when the Lady Warriors were the state champions of 4A and LHS was looking to compete in Mitchell McCurry’s first season.
Last Friday, McCurry’s girls sealed the deal on that first district championship in the regular season since that state title team. The Lady Wildcats won its second game in as many tries against the Lady Warriors, earning the season sweep and a perfect Region 4 record of 10-0.
“I’m very grateful,” McCurry said of winning the No. 1 seed. “We’ve talked about if you want to beat the standard you have to become the standard and Choctaw Central is the standard. We put them on a pedestal because we respect them a lot. To beat them twice is really hard to do, and it’s going to be even harder to get them a third time.”
It was another perfect week for the Lady Cats beginning on the road at Leake Central. LHS A 32-18 lead in the first half was more than enough to set the tone in a 66-45 blowout win. That game sealed up the No. 1 seed for LHS before even going up against CCHS.
Jacylin Houston finished 19 points, while Aniya Hunter had 18 points in the win.
Friday was Senior Night for the Lady Cats, and Hunter saved perhaps her best game for last. In a game in which the team scored 42 points in the first half, Hunter finished with 29 in the game as LHS got a 69-52 victory over the talented Lady Warriors.
Hunter was a monster in the win as she pulled down 14 rebounds to go along with the big scoring effort. Houston added 13 points and Keeli Latham added another 10.
The victory gave the Lady Cats a bye heading into the Region 4 tournament. The team is now an incredible 23-3 on the year and has won eight-straight contests with 19 out of the last 20 games being victories.
The winner of Leake Central and Northeast Lauderdale will have to meet the Lady Cats on Tuesday night at Choctaw Central. McCurry likes the focus in which his team is playing.
“I think we managed to find a different type of focus,” McCurry said of his squad. “I preached all week that we were getting ready to start a whole new season. We’re just gearing up and getting ready to play.”
Boys
The Wildcats just missed out on getting the No. 2 seed in the district tournament thanks to a split of their two games this week.
LHS started out with a 56-45 win over Leake Central on Tuesday night. It was a close game in the first half with LHS holding a narrow 26-24 lead, but the Wildcats outscored the Gators in each of the final two frames to push the lead out and get the win.
Cameron Ingram led the team with 19 points in the victory while Jalen Hill had 16.
After knocking off the No. 1 seeded Choctaw Central Warriors in a stunner last month, the Wildcats couldn’t get the sweep and fell 76-51 on Friday night. Ingram again led the team with 18 points while Antonio Dixon had 11.
With the loss, LHS ended the regular season 12-11 with a 6-4 march in Class 4A, Region 2 play. The district tournament began on Monday at Choctaw Central as the Wildcats took on the Whippets of Kosciusko looking to advance.
