The French Camp boys and girls basketball teams began play in the Region 5-1A tournament Tuesday at McAdams.
The Panthers are the third seed in the six-team region and opened against sixth-seed Noxapater. The fourth-seeded Lady Panthers played fifth seed Nanih Waiya.
Both teams needed a win to advance to the semifinals Thursday and qualify for the 1A playoffs. A victory by the Panthers would put them in a game with second seed Ethel. The Lady Panthers, with a win, would play top seed and unbeaten West Lowndes.
The Panthers finished the regular season last week with a 62-50 loss to McAdams and a 58-55 victory over Nanih Waiya.
French Camp was able to pull within two of McAdams early in the fourth quarter, but never caught up. “We never could get over the hump,” said coach Robert Leathers. “We played selfish. That’s probably the first selfish game we played all year. We didn’t play the kind of basketball that got us through so many games this year,”
Darrion Smith scored 15 points, C.J. Johnson 13 and Zack Williams 11 for the Panthers.
Leathers said there was a players only meeting prior to the Nanih Waiya game, resulting in a fast start. The Panthers led 22-12 after one quarter. “That was probably the best quarter of basketball we played all year,” Leathers said.
Johnson scored 27 points, including 11 straight free throws in the second half. “That was the difference in the game,” Leathers said. Smith added 19 points.
Coleman Mackenzie, who scored four points, received praise from Leathers for his defensive play. “He has come a long way. I’m proud of the way he has grown as a player this year. He does the little stuff for us.”
GIRLS
The Lady Panthers had two close losses, 50-46 against McAdams and 37-35 against Nanih Waiya.
French Camp rallied from a double digit deficit against McAdams, outscoring the Lady Bulldogs 17-10 in the fourth quarter, but never caught up. The final was much closer than an earlier 68-48 loss to McAdams.
Jasmine Bonty had 16 points and 17 rebounds for French Camp and Jordan Carter scored 12 points, Makeria Griffin had a team-high 13 points for McAdams.
The Nanih Waiya game went back and force. French Camp led 14-10 after once quarter, trailed 28-21 at the half, took a 29-28 lead by holding Nanih Waiya scoreless in the third quarter, but was outscored 9-6 in the final period.
“They played really well and we didn’t play well at all,” said coach Polly LeVert. Abby Robertson led French Camp with 12 points. Ambria Tubby had 22 points for Nanih Waiya.
French Camp won the first game between the teams 61-50, making Tuesday’s tournament matchup the rubber game.
Grace Christian close season on strong run
If there were an award for the most improved basketball team in the state during the course of the season, Grace Christian boys would be a candidate. After starting 4-11, the Eagles won 16 of 19 to finish 20-14.
“This team was a real pleasure to coach,” said Jason Morgan. “They worked hard at practice, listened to coaching and improved every week. GCS is very supportive of basketball and our program will only get better.”
The Eagles concluded the regular season last week with a 53-34 victory over Delta Streets Academy of Greenwood, then won the Grace Christian School Invitational Tournament.
The victory over Delta Streets illustrates how much the team improved. When the teams met Nov. 25, Delta Streets won 75-43.
Bonner Brownlee led the Eagles in the rematch with 23 points and five rebounds, Jacob Phillips had 12 points and eight rebounds.
At the tournament, Grace Christian defeated Starkville Christian 41-30, Victory Christian of Columbus 29-25 and Victory Christian a second time in the championship game 50-41.
Phillips led the Eagles in the win over Starkville Christian with 13 points and nine rebounds, Brownlee had 11 and seven.
Micah Ballard had a team-high eight points in the first win over Victory Christian, including two free throws with eight seconds left to clinch the victory. Phillips added seven points and nine rebounds,
Brownlee had another big game in the championship game with 26 points and seven rebounds. Asher Hogue contributed 10 points and eight rebounds.
GIRLS
The Lady Eagles were runners-up in the tournament with two wins and two losses. Grace Christian defeated Meridian Home School 23-19, lost to Starkville Christian 25-21, defeated Meridian Home School 27-20, then lost to Starkville Christian a second time in the title game 38-29.
The championship game was tied at the half before Starkville Christian pulled away for the victory.
“We basically ran out of gas,” said coach Talor Troyer. “That was our third game that day. We were exhausted. When we got tired, we started making mistakes. We didn't take care of the ball like we should.”
Caroline Robbins and Carly Peterson led the Lady Eagles during the tournament. Robbins had a team-high in the first two games with nine and 10 points, Peterson in the last two with 12 points in each game.
Troyer noted the team's improvement, with a winning record. “Considering that we won only four games total last year, that says something about their tremendous work ethic, how hard they worked and how much they learned. I'm extremely proud of them. The amount of improvement from year to year has been phenomenal.”
Robbins graduates, but Peterson and point guard Aspen Harris are sophomores who are expected to lead the team the next two years.
