Coahoma Early College High School was 27-1 on the season with upperclassmen dominating the roster going into the second round of the Class 3A playoffs at home Saturday night against Holly Springs.
With a trip to the state tournament on the line, the Marion Reid Gym was at full capacity to the point where fans were unable to get into the building to see the game.
However, the Tigers (27-2, 8-0) fell just a little bit short with a 57-55 loss as their season came to an end.
CECHS fell into an early 9-0 deficit and trailed 15-6 at the end of the first quarter.
The Tigers outscored the Hawks 22-13 in the second quarter to even things up at 28-28 going into the locker room at halftime.
Tyler Martin led the comeback with all 5 of his points in the second quarter on a 3-pointer and 2-point field goal. Trevion Jackson had 4 of his 12 points in the second quarter on a 3-pointer and free throw. He connected on three 3-pointers in the game with the other two coming during the fourth quarter.
CECHS coach Corney George praised his athletes for not giving up after falling into an early deficit.
“It says a lot about them,” George said. “We had a couple of mishaps handling the ball on the court. We had a couple of situations we could have handled better, but they played until the end.”
Senior guard Tre Payno had 6 points on one 3-pointer in the first quarter and another in the second.
Senior guard Willie Eagins finished with 17 points. Senior power forward and center Thomas Williams Jr., who finished with more than 1,000 rebounds in his career and is expected to play college basketball, scored 6 points. Jeremell Daniels also finished with 6 points.
Senior guard Hertayvious Williams scored all 3 of his points on a 3-point field goal.
George believes his seniors will continue to have an impact playing basketball.
“This is a tough group of kids,” he said. “They played their butts off. Bright future ahead of them.”
