Coahoma Early College High School is still attempting to win its first district basketball game of the season.
The Lady Tigers (1-4, 0-3) lost 28-23 to Winona Friday night in a district matchup, while the Tigers (0-5, 0-3) lost 58-37.
The Lady Tigers trailed most of the night, but gave themselves an opportunity to win late with their defense. Trailing 20-16 in the fourth quarter, CECHS scored seven unanswered points to take a 23-20 lead.
Ariyanna Simpson got the run going with a 3-pointer and led the Lady Tigers with 13 points. Irieyona Jackson followed with 10, but the Lady Tigers did not have any other scorers on the night.
“That’s an issue right now,” said Lady Tigers coach Luster C. Tyler II. “We’re trying to develop another scorer. We know we need at least three main scorers.”
Tyler said he is trying to get another young shooter, Charlandria Thomas, into the scoring mix.
“She’s a very smart young lady,” Tyler said. “She’s very athletic. It just has to carry over, get enough reps and it will come.”
Winona came back with eight points off of turnovers in the final 1:30 to win 28-23.
“We were turning the ball over,” Tyler said. “We weren’t getting it past half court. All of that was on us. We just weren’t executing. They started pressing a little and we just weren’t executing our press break. That’s what we just discussed. They all know the answers. That’s what I always tell them. You all know the answers to the test and then fail the test. They all know where they’re supposed to go, but that comes with youth.”
Tyler said he is teaching and emphasizing defense to keep his teams in the game. He said CECHS played OK defense most of the night and reached its goal of holding the opponent to fewer than 40 points. He said he was proud of his team’s hard work and the Lady Tigers have a lot of talent and potential.
There will not be a district tournament for the Lady Tigers’ division due to the COVID pandemic, so the top four seeds from the regular season make the playoffs.
Tyler said his goal is to make the playoffs.
The Tigers are in a rebuilding mode from the early part of the season and added two eighth graders from Coahoma County Junior High School to the roster.
Orlando Stuckey and Zachariah Smith made immediate contributions with four points each Friday night.
“They played pretty good to be junior high kids,” said Tigers coach Cameron Monix. “I’m proud of the way we fought. We had a little miscue, discipline. We’re going to get past it.”
Isaiah Galmore had five points for the Tigers, Curtis Jones had 13, Curtis McCowen had six on two 3-pointers, and Elijah Brown had five.
“We fought,” Monix said. “As you could see, we’re getting better.”
Monix said the Tigers are still learning the game, but he expects them to be prepared for the postseason.
“That’s what we’re fighting for,” Monix said. “We’re trying to get a top four seed. I don’t plan on being four, to be honest. We’re going to keep getting better and we’re going to try to reach the top. We’re not settling for fourth.”
The Lady Tigers lost 31-23 in another home district game to Humphreys County Tuesday, but four athletes entered the scoring column.
Thomas led the way with nine points followed by Jackson with eight, Simpson with four and Calviyuna Johnson with one.
The Tigers lost 74-33 to Humphreys County, but the two junior high players were the leading scorers.
Stuckey had 11 points, Smith followed with seven, Jones had six, Josiah Tompkins had five, and Galmore had four.
CECHS hosts Ruleville at 6 p.m. Tuesday in another district matchup.
