It was a recurring theme – a slow start – when the French Camp boys basketball season ended with a 74-40 loss to West Lowndes in the opening round of the 1A state tournament. The Panthers were outscored 17-0 in the first quarter.
“We didn't make the shots,” coach Robert Leathers said of the opening period. “It's not that we didn't have the looks we wanted. We just didn't put it in there.
“We actually won the second quarter (21-18), played well in the third quarter and okay in the fourth quarter.”
West Lowndes was the winner of Region 6-1A and French Camp was fourth in 5-1A.
Senior Clayton Leathers led the Panthers with 13 points. Sophomore Calvin Johnson had 11.
For the season, Johnson was the leading scorer, averaging 11.5. Sophomore Everett Holland averaged 8.6, Leathers 7.9, senior Holman Edwards 7.1 and senior Cameron Smith 6.7.
“The good thing is that we had a great season,” said coach Leathers. “Two years ago, they had zero wins. Last year we had three wins. This year we had six. The kids are having a good time, which is a big thing.”
Looking ahead, Leathers is optimistic. “We're going to be small. We're going to take some lumps. What I like is that they are tough and they play hard.”
GIRLS
After a winless campaign a year ago, the French Camp girls basketball team made major strides this season with only one senior, finishing with eight wins, and the Lady Panthers were competitive in several other games.
“I knew coming in that I had a young team. They really surpassed my expectations,” said coach Priscilla Anderson. “I'm looking forward to the future because most of my players were 9th and 10th graders.
“They have this first year behind them. They made rookie mistakes and they made inexperienced mistakes. But the next couple of years should really be good for us because they have that experience.”
Madison Klein, the team's lone senior, led in scoring with 21.7 per game. Freshman Jasmine Bonty averaged 13.7 points and 9.4 rebounds and sophomore Jordan Carter contributed 5.9 points and 5.0 rebounds.
Klein went over the 1,000 point mark for her high school career during the Region 5-1A tournament and finished with 1,044 in three years. She was a freshman at Jackson Prep and a sophomore at St. Andrew's, then sat out as a junior due to MHSAA transfer rules before finishing her prep career at French Camp.
“The addition of Madison coming in really helped us a lot,” Anderson said.
