AA State Tournament

AA State Playoffs get underway in Brookhaven

By Darron Thomas
The MPSA AA State playoffs got underway yesterday in Brookhaven, Mississippi with four games on the schedule. At the end of the day four teams advanced to the semi-finals on Friday and four teams went home for the season. Big crowds gathered to watch the first day of basketball with three of the four match ups going as many had expected, but one team got bit by the upset bug.
The Trinity Saints entered yesterday’s first round match up with Lee Academy as the #2 seed from the south after falling to Bowling Green in the AA South State championship game this past Saturday night. When it was all over the Lee Academy Colts advanced to the next round with a 47-39 upset of the Saints. Putting a healthy five on the court for coach David King was a challenge last night as Trinity had been hit by the virus bug. Senior Jackson Bryant didn’t make the trip due to illness and several Trinity players put forth valiant efforts while being sick.

Lee got out to a solid start in the first quarter with the outside shooting of senior guard Patrick Clark and the inside game of Douglas Smith. The Colts got out to an early 10-4 lead but Trinity closed out the opening quarter on a Brandon Daggs 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 12-10. Trinity would tie the game at 12-12 on a Brandon Daggs steal and basket at the 6:08 mark of the second quarter and a Kent King 3-pointer less than a minute later gave the Saints their first lead of the game at 15-12. A no look pass from King to Giovonni Dent for a basket pushed the Trinity lead to 17-12 on the next possession. The Colts got a 12 foot jumper from Chase Crumpton and a bucket from center Anthony Steen to pull back to within one at 17-16 with just over three minutes left in the half. A Brandon Daggs deuce at the 1:17 mark of the quarter would close out the first half scoring with Trinity up 19-16.

(Above) Trinity's Brandon Daggs gets a shot over Patrick Clark of Lee
Lee opened up the third quarter on a 9-2 run to retake the lead 25-21 with just over one minute remaining in the third. Lee would covert on three of four free throws to extend the lead to 28-21 with just over 10 seconds left in the third quarter but a Giovonni Dent 3-pointer at the buzzer would keep the Saints close at 28-24 heading into the final quarter.

Giovonni Dent’s assist to Andrew Johnson started the fourth quarter and pulled the Saints to within two at 28-26, but as the final quarter wore on the Saints were unable to overtake the Colts. Trinity pulled to within two once more at 34-32 on a Brandon Daggs 8 footer with just under four minutes left. But in a game that was reminiscent of Saturday night’s game against Bowling Green the Saints were unable to pull ahead in the second half. Lee converted on 9/14 free throws in the final quarter to secure a 47-39 win and advance to the semi-finals on Friday to meet the Brookhaven Cougars.
(Above) Trinity's Andrew Johnson rejects the shot of Lee's Douglas Smith
The Lee Colts were led by Patrick Clark with 10 points, Douglas Smith added 9, Chase Crumpton had 8, Anthony Steen and Ben True had 7 each, and Taylor Tidwell 6.

Brandon Daggs led Trinity with 20 points, Giovonni Dent added 10, Andrew Johnson 4, Kent King 3, and Bryant Pearson 2.
(Above) Lee Academy student section was loud and proud!
The Lee Colts have a solid club with decent size and quality guard play. I don’t know if I’ve seen a center with the girth as Anthony Steen…this young man is big. Great job by Lee head coach Robert Daniels.

(Above) Brookhaven's Jeremy Foster gets off a 3-pointer over Leake's Austin Byrd
In the final contest of the evening the Brookhaven Cougars made a definitive statement to the field of teams looking to unseat them as the defending state champions with a sound 73-44 win over the Leake Rebels.
Leake would jump out to a 5-0 lead on a Grant Wilson 3-pointer and a Brian Saxon basket with 5:36 left in the opening quarter. Josh Winborne would get the Cougars on the board with a 10 foot baseline jumper at the 4:54 mark and the senior got the Cougars to within one at 5-4 on a driving basket on the next possession to force a Leake timeout. Brookhaven took their first lead at 7-5 on a Jake Reed lay-in plus one with 3:32 left in the quarter. Winborne bucketed his ninth point of the opening quarter on a 3-pointer at the horn to give Brookhaven a 19-10 lead after one period.

The tone was set by Brookhaven as the Cougar defense forced nothing but long range jumpers from the Leake Rebels. As points were at a premium for Leake they came in bunches from the defending state champs as the lead quickly swelled to 25-10 on a Jake Reed end to end drive culminating with a left handed shot off the glass with just over three minutes gone in the second quarter. Senior Austin Byrd would keep Leake to within eleven points at 32-21 on a 3-pointer just before the half ended.
(Above) Brookhaven student section leaving no doubt who was the loudest!
Brookhaven opened the second half on a 6-0 run to grab their biggest lead of the game at 38-21. Leake managed to cut the lead to 43-31 on a Brian Saxon 3-pointer with two minutes left in the third quarter but Brookhaven would get a Jamison Powell free throw and a Josh Winborne feed from Jeremy Foster for a basket to end the quarter up 46-31.
Leake would get no closer than thirteen points in the final quarter as Brookhaven earned a 73-44 first round win over the Leake Rebels to advance to the semi-finals on Friday. Brookhaven will match up with the Lee Colts at 7:15pm.

Junior Jake Reed led Brookhaven with 23 points and 14 rebounds, senior Josh Winborne added 15 points, junior Jamison Powell had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Blaine Roberts had 9 points and 6 assists.

Leake was led by seniors Brian Saxon with 15, Austin Byrd with 11, and Crosby McDonald 8.

All the talk about Brookhaven not playing well and whether they would advance was quickly put to rest. They seemed to be hitting on all cylinders last night with Jake Reed in particular looking sharp on both ends of the court. Leake had problems getting into the paint all night on offense and to those of us that have watched Brookhaven basketball over the years it’s not likely anyone will beat the Cougars with only a perimeter game. Lee should match up with Brookhaven a little better than Leake was able to do but the Colt’s big men had better sleep well Thursday night, the pace is about to quicken!


The Oak Forest Lady Jackets opened up the AA State Tournament yesterday with a dominating 66-22 win over the Manchester Lady Mavs. Oak Forest, fresh off their AA South State Championship last Saturday, wasted little time in getting out to a 14-2 lead on a Brittani Roy 3-pointer with two minutes left in the first quarter. Senior point guard Lindsey Oliver’s basket with 4 seconds left closed out the opening quarter with the Lady Jackets sporting a 19-4 lead.

(Above) Ashlyn Neal of Oak Forest with a six foot jumper against Manchester
Oak Forest pushed out to a 39-12 halftime lead over Manchester and opened the third quarter on a Lauren Brumfield 3-pointer to increase the lead to 42-12. The Lady Jackets would begin mass substitutions with a 57-18 lead at the 3:00 mark of the third quarter. Oak Forest advances to semi-finals for the second consecutive year with a 66-22 win over Manchester and will meet the winner of today’s Marshall/Prairie View game. (Above) Cassie Bennett of Oak Forest defending the post against Manchester's Anne Helton
Oak Forest had ten players make it into the scoring column last night. Ashlyn Neal had a game high 16 points, Cassie Bennett added 12, Lindsey Oliver 9, Lauren Brumfield 8, Brittani Roy 6, Marissa Cannon and Chloe Woods 4 each, Jessica McClendon 3, and Meaghan Durand and Emma Brabham 2 each.

Randi Fagan led the Manchester Lady Mavs with 6 points, Sarah Bailey Roberts and Anne Franklin Helton added 4 each, and Lelah Bridgforth and Morgan Ledlow with 2 each.

The Manchester Lady Mavs are coached by Keith Martin.


In the other girls contest the Trinity Lady Saints gave a valiant effort against the Leake Lady Rebels. Trinity and the #1 ranked girls team in AA basketball were all knotted up at 16-16 after the first quarter. The Lady Saints defense kept Leake from racing out to the fast start that most people see from the basketball powerhouse from Madden, Mississippi. With the Lady Rebels up 14-8 Caroline Ketchings would nail a 3-pointer with 1:22 left in the opening quarter to pull Trinity to within three at 14-11. A Trinity free throw and a Bethany Ogden bucket with 42 seconds left tied things up at 14-14, but Leake’s Hannah Peoples sank two free throws to give the Lady Rebels a two point cushion as the quarter was coming to a close. Trinity’s Caroline Ketchings hit an 8 footer off the glass with 10 seconds left to tie things up at 16-16 to end the opening quarter.
(Above) Trinity's Lesley Pomeroy looks to inbound against Leake's Jenny Wilbanks
Leake took control in the opening minutes of the second quarter by outscoring Trinity 7-2 to take a 25-18 lead at the 4:38 mark of the period. Trinity’s Madelyn Cross, who sat out the past two games at south state due to illness, hit a basket and converted a free throw with just over two minutes left in the half to pull the Lady Saints to within four at 25-21. Another Madelyn Cross basket with 56 seconds left in the half made it a 26-25 contest, but Hannah Peoples (remember that name, 8th grader) sank a lay-in to close out the half with the Lady Rebels up 28-25.
(Above) Trinity's Caroline Ketchings drives the baseline against Leake
Leake would stretch the lead to 41-33 on a Jenny Wilbanks 3-pointer with 1:46 left in the third quarter, but the Lady Saints kept within striking distance as a Caroline Ketchings bucket trimmed the lead to 45-37 to end the quarter. Another Ketchings basket, this time a 3-pointer with 6:03 left in the fourth quarter, cut the Leake lead to 48-44. It was at this point that the Leake offense took charge with sophomore center Jenny Wilbanks nailing a 3-pointer and converting on three baskets in the paint from the midway point of the quarter untill the final score of 67-50. Leake put together a 41-25 second half to advance to the semi-finals on Friday against today’s Brookhaven/Indianola winner.

Leake was led by Jenny Wilbanks with 25 points, Emily Kea added 19, Hannah Peoples had 16, Char’Lesa Tadlock 5, Jessie Powers and Kelsey Harvey had 2 each.

Trinity was led by Caroline Ketchings with 22 points, Bethany Ogden added 13, Madelyn Cross 5, and Sidney McLeod 2.

Over the past two weeks it’s been great meeting so many new people and I really appreciate all the kind words and encouragement I’ve received. The first night of action was great as was the atmosphere. "Shout Out" to Lee’s student section for really “bringin” it last night, and as always, Brookhaven’s bunch was full of energy.

see ya…………