photos/story P. McRae
Both the teams from Tishomingo County fell short in their goal of a state championship last week, but their accomplishments of rallying the county behind them was landmark, and their narrow defeats hopefully increased that desire for the gold ball in the county next season.
On Thursday, the Tishomingo County Lady Braves fell to Choctaw Central 56-49, but still ended up highly ranked state wide for their tremendous 31-4 season.
In the Clarion Ledger Super 10, TC was ranked number 8 state wide, after powerhouse teams from Neshoba Central (33-0), Meridian (27-3), Harrison Central (29-3), Clinton (21-8), Germantown (24-7), Choctaw Central (29-4), and Columbus (23-5), and ahead of Jackson Prep and Leake Academy.
That’s an accomplishment, no matter how you look at it, and with the team only losing two outstanding seniors, the program is well-positioned for another deep post-season run in 2022-23.
“We are excited about our returning team,” said Coach Brian Middleton. “We believe we have the opportunity to be back competing for a gold ball again.”
“We are proud of Madison [Bennett] and Clara [Garland] and what they accomplished here; they left the program better than they found it, and we will miss them,” said Middleton. “But this also left our underclassmen hungry to return to the Big House. They are excited about the opportunities the future brings.”
Clara Garland had 15 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks in the finals game. Bennett had 18 points and 3 steals, and Reese Moore had 16 points and 6 rebounds.
The TC fans deserve a special recognition; the absolute sea of blue made some folks wonder if there were any people left in Tishomingo County during the Thursday game! And, they stood up, participated and supported the girls the entire game, giving the dedicated Choctaw Central crowd a run for their money.
Belmont Misses 44-46 to Lake
Belmont fell short by only two points in their bid for a back-to-back state championship, falling to Lake 46-44.
Mary-Grace Storment had 16 points; Carlie Brock had 15 points, Rayleigh Guin had 5 points, and Kat Reno and Kalea Koger had 4 points each.
“I am very proud of this group of girls for what they were able to accomplish this season,” said Belmont coach Chris Higginbottom of his seventh trip to the state tournament finals. “They won 27 games, went undefeated in division play and won the division tournament. There are not many players who get to experience what these girls got to experience this season by being able to play for a state championship. I know we did not finish as state champions, but being runner-up in 2A does not take away from the great season that we had this year.”
