Coahoma County High School is the last of the local basketball teams still standing for the 2019-20 season.
The Red Panthers (21-10, 9-1) punched their ticket to the Class 2A state tournament with a 55-33 win at home Saturday night against St. Joseph Catholic. The Lady Red Panthers (27-3, 10-0) earned their spot in the state tournament with a 47-32 playoff win at home against East Webster Friday night.
Both teams will play New Site in the state tournament at Mississippi Valley State University Thursday with the girls tipping off at 4 p.m. and the boys following at 5:30. The winner of the girls game will play West Lincoln or Bay Springs at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson at 9 a.m. Tuesday. The winner of the boys game will play Amite County or North Forrest at the Mississippi Coliseum at noon Tuesday.
The 2A state championships are at Ole Miss in Oxford Friday, March 6. Tipoff for the girls championship is 1 p.m. with the boys following at 3.
The Red Panthers were back-to-back state champions in 2016-17 and 2017-18 and advanced to the state tournament in 2018-19, but injuries caused them to start the current season slower than usual.
Now, they are in their groove.
“This was the group that I was supposed to have started the year with,” said coach Derrick Moore. “This group on here didn’t get on the floor until late in the playoffs.”
Moore said the injuries created depth and many different athletes stepped up in the recent win.
“With them being injured and stuff early, they were on court,” he said.
The Red Panthers jumped out to a 15-0 lead in their win Saturday night and did not give up any field goals during the first quarter.
Senior power forward and center Clintavious Davis finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds; senior guard Markevious Holmes had 9 points on three 3-pointers; senior wing Tarkevius Logan has 8 points, 5 assists and 7 rebounds; senior power forward and center Keshun Holly had 6 points, 9 rebounds and 1 block; sophomore guard and forward Christopher Abby had 6 points and 3 steals; senior power forward and senior Tykeevius Taylor had 5 points; and sophomore guard Jaydon McCool and senior guard Bentavious Galmore had 4 points each.
The Red Panthers defeated East Union in the first round of the playoffs 68-46 at Coahoma County a few days earlier.
Moore felt his team did not play its best against East Union.
“They said it was my birthday present,” said Moore of the victory Saturday night. “The girls, they had given me theirs, so it was theirs.”
Moore’s birthday was five days before the game against St. Joseph Catholic.
The Lady Red Panthers win against East Webster did not come as easy. They trailed 5-0 early, but led 20-16 by halftime. They extended the lead to 29-20 after the third quarter and won by 15 points at 47-32.
“The team is good at making adjustments at halftime, so you know we talked about how they were running a little flex at the elbow and cutting down,” Moore said. “We made some adjustments at halftime and kind of rectified everything, being able to get the little backdoor and things of that nature. Then, at the same time, we started off slow because we missed layups. We missed free throws. We just could never get in a rhythm.”
He said one girl on East Webster had long arms and it made some of his athletes timid with the passes they were throwing.
Moore said he also reminded his seniors it was their last meaningful game at home.
“One of the other things we talked about at halftime was we told those girls, our seniors, this is their last home game,” Moore said. “This is the last time they will play a meaningful game on this floor. I think it kind of hit them, this is our last game, we’ve got to tighten it up.”
Senior forward Nakia Cheatham finished with a double-double of 18 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks; sophomore guard Nyriah Artis had 16 points; senior guard Calysia Phillips had 9 points; senior wing Shakira Artis had 3 assists; senior wing Brianna Ratliff and junior power forward Tyana McClenton had 2 points each.
Looking ahead to playing New Site, Moore said his teams would win if they rebound the ball well, make key defensive stops and take care of the basketball.
“That’s what our strengths are,” he said. “The only thing that’s going to beat them is them. If we rebound the ball, if we defend well, if we don’t turn it over, they won’t beat us.”
