The Nanih Waiya boys basketball team came oh-so-close to pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the district tournament round last week, falling to top-seeded West Lowndes 38-37 in the semifinals.
The Warriors bounced back from that near miss to handily defeat French Camp 66-45 in the boys consolation game of the Region 5-1A tournament played in Attala County last week, earning a No. 3 seed in the 1A State Tournament.
Nanih Waiya was set to play at Sebastopol on Tuesday night In a game that was completed after the Winston County Journal’s press deadline for this week’s paper.
Should NW win that game the Warriors will advance to the second round on Saturday against a foe and at a site yet to be determined.
NW opened the tourney on Tuesday night with a 68-62 win over McAdams, assuring the Warriors of a spot in the state playoffs.
Nanih Waiya trailed 34-28 at the half, but outscored McAdams 20-8 in the third quarter and maintained that advantage o the way to the six-point win. Trey McMullan and Rico Moore both posted double-doubles for the Warriors, with McMullan scored 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds and Moore recorded 11 points and 11 boards to go with three steals.
Hagan Halfacre was the leading scorer for NW, pumping in 17 points, while Izaiaha Nicholson had 10 points and nine rebounds and Ethan Daily had 10 points and eight boards
Tyquan McCully had five rebounds and four points, while Tylan Glass added five rebounds.
On Thursday night the Warriors held a 31-21 lead after three quarters of play in a low-scoring affair, but couldn’t hold on as West Lowndes came back to claim the one-point win.
McCully scored 10 points for NW, while Glass had eight points and nine rebounds, and McMullan had nine rebounds, while Halfacre scored eight points.
In the crucial consolation game on Friday night, NW used a big second quarter to take control of the game and cruised to the 19-point win over French Camp. Nicholson scored 16 points and had seven boards for the winner, while McMullan scored 12 and Halfacre 10. Glass had nine points and 13 rebounds, while Quinton Willis scored six points and Daily had five rebounds.
GIRLS
The Lady Warriors of Nanih Waiya concluded their 2019-20 season by dropping a 62-48 decision to French Camp — a team they had beaten the week before — in the first round of the Region 5-1A Tournament.
NW only trailed 26-25 at the half last Tuesday, but the Lady Panthers of FCA outscored the Lady Warriors 23-2 in the third quarter to take control of the contest.
Ambria Tubby led NW with 16 points, while Taina Thompson scored 10, I’onnya Coleman hit for eight and Morgan Mills added six.
Tubby was named Region 5-1A Girls Offensive Player of the Year and was also named to the All-District team.
