Louisville basketball coach Kenyon Ross said before the season started that he thought his talented but youthful girls would be okay once they got a few games under their belt.
Apparently, he was right.
After claiming the regular-season district title, the Lady Wildcats won a pair of rugged contests last week to claim the Region 4-4A Tournament championship.
Louisville’s girls knocked off Kosciusko 38-23 and then topped Leake Central 40-38 to win the title and improve to 24-2. The Lady Wildcats have now won 11 straight contests and have not lost since a Jan. 9 loss to Leake Central. Since, they’ve twice avenged that loss to the Lady Gators.
Louisville’s girls were to host an MHSAA Class 4A state playoff game at home Monday night against New Albany.
Louisville’s boys were also still alive at press time and were prepping for a trip to Corinth on Tuesday night this week. The Wildcats lost 52-48 to New Hope in last Thursday’s region tournament semifinals and fell 70-61 to host Noxubee County in Friday’s consolation game to earn the No. 4 seed. They exited the district tourney with a 20-7 record.
Louisville’s girls had to win Monday to keep playing, and a win would push them into a Friday matchup against either Clarksdale or Amory. A win there would move the Lady Wildcats into the Class 4A state quarterfinals March 1 at Jackson State University.
Louisville’s boys also needed a win earlier this week to stay alive. That would move the Wildcats into a Saturday matchup against either Amory or Greenwood in the round of 16. Another win Saturday would send Louisville to the Mississippi Coliseum for a state quarterfinal game, also March 1.
In the girls’ semifinal last Thursday, Louisville managed just two points in the first quarter.
But the Lady Wildcats outscored Kosy 12-4 in the second quarter to take a 14-10 lead, and they also outscored the Lady Whippets in both the third and fourth periods to grind out the win.
Areyanna Hunter led Louisville with 13 points, while Lymyia Fifer scored eight. Iitasha Paty and Jalen Ingram chipped in six points apiece.
In the championship game on Friday night, Timia Dora led a balanced scoring attack with eight points for Louisville. Hunter and Manyia Taylor scored seven points apiece, Ajira Thompkins scored six and Paty chipped in five.
Louisville jumped to a five-point lead after one period and then held on the the seesaw battle.
Speaking of seesaw battles, the LHS boys dropped theirs in a rubber-game matchup with New Hope in last Thursday’s semifinals.
Louisville led by one point after the first quarter, was down by five at halftime and trailed by one going into the fourth.
Tequavious Brags poured in 20 points to lead the Wildcats, while Keyshawn Gladney scored 14 points.
In Friday afternoon’s consolation game, the Wildcats fell behind by a dozen in the first quarter against the host Tigers of Noxubee and played catch-up the rest of the way.
A big third quarter got the Wildcats within six going into the fourth quarter, where Noxubee held on for the win.
Tyrell Thames led Louisville with 20 points, while Lemarcus Fleming scored 10 and Jy’Kevious Hibbler nine. Bryandrea Shumaker tossed in eight points and Vasedrick Culberson scored seven.
