A well-rested Louisville Lady Wildcats team swept through its Region 4-4A opponents last week en route to claiming the 2019 Region 4-4A title.
Then on Monday night cruised to a 73-39 win over Greenwood in the first round of the MHSAA Class 4A Girls State Basketball Tournament. The win earned the Lady Wildcats the right to host Amory at 7 p.m. on Friday in the second round of the tournament.
Following an eight-day layoff and a first-round bye, the Lady Wildcats returned to play in Thursday’s semifinal in the regional tournament against Noxubee County, where the Lady Tigers proved no match for Louisville as the Lady Wildcats earned an 86-22 win.
“Basically, we did what we are normally supposed to do,” Louisville coach Kenyon Ross said. “I think our conditioning was a lot better than what it was before we hit the tournament. These kids know what they need to do. They were there last year, and they know they need to come in, take care of business and get ready for the next game and the next team up.”
Against Noxubee County, Areyanna Hunter erupted for a game-high 25 points to lead four Louisville (22-4) players who scored in double figures. Jalen Ingram contributed 18 points, Kiersten Bell added 12 points and Jayla Johnson finished with 10 points.
Louisville defeated New Hope one day later by a score of 64-33 in the tournament championship.
Itasha Paty tallied 12 points to lead all scorers.
“I told the girls, based off looking at Leake Central during the district tournament, Leake Central was the better team than the No. 3 team, and upset them,” Ross said. “I let them know, on any given day, if you’re not prepared and not mentally ready to play, anybody can beat you. That’s what I’m using as a focal point. Remember that feeling you had last year when you lost your last game. When you remember that feeling, just think about how you don’t want to feel that way anymore.”
BOYS
When the Wildcats faced the Trojans for the last game of the regular season, New Hope slipped past with a 12-point victory.
With that in mind, an inspired Louisville, operating off of an eight-day layoff, opened its Region 4-4A tournament against New Hope. This time, the Wildcats wound up on the winning side after grabbing a 93-88 double-overtime victory in the semifinal contest.
Bryandrea Shumaker posted a season-high 32 points in the contest. Tequavious Bragg tallied 17 points, while Tyrell Thames contributed 15.
Shumaker followed up his strong performance in Friday’s championship game against Leake Central by scoring a team-high 25 points to help lead Louisville (15-10) to a 79-64 win against the Gators. Braggs chipped in with 19 and Clayton Maury poured in 12.
“In both games we played, we were down by double digits,” Ross said. “The kids continued to fight, and in the game against Leake Central in the championship, we were down by 12 in the second quarter. After that, we fought back and we were then up by six at halftime and we never lost the lead after that. The conditioning and the willingness of the team to fight was good.”
Louisville was set to host Yazoo City in its Class 4A playoff opener Tuesday. Yazoo City enters Tuesday with a 9-19 record under first-year coach Anthony Carlyle, who guided Columbus last year to the Class 6A title.
“(Yazoo City) is going to be ready to play,” Ross said. “They’re going to be well-coached and well-disciplined. And even though their record doesn’t show it, he has a young team and they fight."
