Lady Rockets land in Jackson for playoffs
The Neshoba Central Lady Rockets picked up three victories last week in the Mississippi High School Activities Association’s Class 5A girls state tournament.
That landed the Lady Rockets in Jackson Tuesday where they were to battle Laurel in the semifinal round at the Mississippi Coliseum. The winner will advance to the Class 5A girls championship game on Friday against the winner of Holmes County Central and Brookhaven. Tipoff will be at 5 p.m.
Because of last month’s ice storm, the tournament dates were pushed back and teams had to play three games last week with the girls taking the court on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
The Lady Rockets opened the week with a 59-25 victory over Grenada. They advanced to defeat Vicksburg on the road 73-66, and then closed out the week with a 52-48 victory over Cleveland Central.
Neshoba Central along with Holmes and Cleveland all played in Region 3-5A. Two are in the semifinals and Neshoba eliminated Cleveland in the third round.
“We knew we played in a tough region and I think this proves it,” Coach Jason Broom said. “Laurel and Brookhaven are in the same region, too. Just two regions had two teams to make it to state.”
Against Grenada, the Lady Rockets jumped out to a 19-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. They would outscore Grenada 15-8 in the second quarter and carried a 34-11 lead into the halftime. The Lady Rockets outscored Grenada 12-3 in the third quarter and led 46-14 heading into the fourth quarter. Neshoba Central outpointed Grenada 13-11 in the final eight minutes of play.
Hama’ya Fielder and Jeleisya Jim both scored 12 points to lead Neshoba Central while Veronica Williams added nine points.
The third quarter made the difference for the Lady Rockets in their victory over the Missy Gators.
The score was tied a 18-18 after the first quarter. The Missy Gators outpointed Neshoba Central 17-15 in the second round and led 35-33 at the half. The Lady Rockets took a lead in the third quarter. Outpointing the Missy Gators 23-16, the Lady Rockets took a 56-51 lead into the fourth quarter. They outscored Vicksburg 17-15 in the final eights minutes of play to take the victory.
Fielder led with 22 points while Shanta Beaulieu added eight points. Jim and Onnahali Williams both scored seven points.
The Cleveland girls jumped out to a 21-9 lead in the first quarter. The Lady Rockets battled back, chipping away at the Lady Wolves lead.
Neshoba Central outpointed Cleveland 12-5 in the second quarter and trailed 26-21 at the half. Neshoba Central then outscored Cleveland 12-7 in the third quarter and the game was tied at 33-33 going into the final quarter. There, the Lady Rockets outscored Cleveland 19-14 and took the victory.
Cleveland took a one point lead with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter but the Neshoba Central scored and scored again to take the victory,
“Cleveland got off to a fast start,” Coach Broom said. “But we knew they had been on three long road trips this week. So, we kept the pressure on them and wore them down.”
Fielder led with 15 points while Sha Hunter scored 14 and Veronica Williams put in nine points.