JACKSON – It wasn't pretty, but nobody at Louisville will mind. Not when the result is a state championship.
The Lady Wildcats outlasted Ripley 35-31 last Friday at the Mississippi Coliseum for the MHSAA Class 4A Girls State Championship, the school's first in 46 years.
“It feels real good because we put in a lot of work to get here,” said Iitasha Paty, one of three seniors on the team,
It was the third straight down-to-the-wire game for Louisville, following a 57-55 victory over Senatobia and a 46-42 semifinal win over Lanier that was not decided until Louisville forced a turnover with five seconds left and a two-point lead.
Battle tested was how coach Kenyon Ross explained it. “When we got past Senatobia I knew we were battle tested.”
The Lady Wildcats won because of fast starts in the first, third and fourth quarters and defense against Ripley's Sierra Jackson. Louisville began each half on a 7-0 run and the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run. But each time Louisville seemed ready to take command, Ripley narrowed the gap.
“Simple mistakes, not doing the things we normally do and not doing what got us the lead,” Ross said of what kept LHS from stretching out its advantage.
Jackson scored 19 points and was seven of 12 from the floor in Ripley's semifinal win over Moss Point. But against Louisville, she was three of 18 and scored 11 points.
“We knew we weren't going to stop Jackson. We just wanted to contain her,” Ross said. The two six-footers (Kiersten Ball and Lymyia Fifer) we had back there altered some shots that she normally makes.”
After a ragged first half ended 14-14, Ripley took its only lead , 25-24 after three quarters, on a three-point basket by Amy Rogers.
Louisville regained the lead on a three-point play by Areyanna Hunter. Ripley tied it 27-27 on a basket by Jackson, but Louisville took the lead for good with 6:15 left when Jalen Ingram swished a three-pointer.
Two free throws by Jackson cut Louisville's lead to 33-31, but the Lady Tigers came up empty on two possessions while still trailing by two. Free throws by Ajira Thompkins and Hunter in the last minute produced the final score.
Thompkins was named C Spire Player of the Game with a game-high 12 points that included three of six from three-point range. Paty scored nine points and Fifer had 11 rebounds, two fewer than Jackson's game-high total.
Louisville won despite making only 11-of-38 shots from the floor and eight-of-25 from the line. “We have some good free throw shooters,” Ross said. “This atmosphere, this crowd, the girls being in this situation for the first time. It made them kind of nervous.”
Both teams had larger followings that kept a high decibel level at the Mississippi Coliseum.
Ripley struggled more than Louisville from the floor, connecting on only 10 of 42 as both offenses battled against aggressive defenses.”When you have good defense, you're going to shoot bad,” Ross said. “But somebody has to step up and make plays.”
Louisville finished 27-4, ending the season on a 10-game winning streak. The Lady Wildcats are top ranked in 4A and 10th for all classes by the website MaxPreps.
Ripely finished 27-6, having lost a championship game for the fourth time in 10 years. The Lady Tigers won 3A titles in 2003 and 2011.
Louisville's only other state title came in 1973 when the Lady Wildcats defeated Forest Hill 40-36 for the championship of AA, the largest classification at the time.
With only one senior in the starting lineup, it might not be 46 years until the Lady Wildcats add another golden ball to the school's trophy case.
