Lady Warriors one win away from state championship

The Choctaw Central Lady Warriors will play for the Class 4A Girls State basketball championship Thursday when they take on Tishomingo County at the Mississippi Coliseum.

Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. 

Choctaw Central, 27-4, defeated Newton County 49-43 Monday in the tournament semi-finals. Tishomingo, 29-3, defeated Past Christian 69-48 on their side of the bracket.

Choctaw Central and Tishomingo County did not play this year, But last year, the Lady Warriors eliminated the Lady Braves in the third round of the state tournament.

“I’m sure they will remember that,” Choctaw Central Coach Bill Smith said. “Now, they are in the finals, too. They have a 6-4 girl standing under the goal. And they shoot it really well.” 

Two of the Lady Warrior starters, senior Kyla Farmer and sophomore Kylinn Bell, went down to knee injuries early in the game. Both were supposed to go to the doctor Tuesday and are very doubtful for the championship game.

“It didn’t look good and we are going to miss them,” Smith said. “We played nine girls against Newton County. It’s the next player up.”

It was not Choctaw Central’s best shooting night. They made 31 percent of their field goals,  connecting on 20-of-64. But worse, they only hit two of 25 three point shots. They were 7-of-18 from the free throw line.

It was the third time the Lady Warriors played Newton County which finished with a 14-14 record. Choctaw Central beat them 70-35 and 68-47 in the earlier meetings.

Newton County made 17-of-67 field goal attempts and made one three-point shot for the entire game. They were 8-for-10 from the free throw line.

Farmer went down 5:24 left in the first quarter and left with the game tied at 4-4. Bell was injured later in the quarter. With the scored tied 8-8, the Lady Warriors scored the final three points and led 11-8 at the half.

The Lady Cougars started the second quarter fast as they went up 14-11 with 4:51 remaining in the half. Then Choctaw Central went on an 11-point run to go up 22-14 with 2:01 remaining in the half. Newton County scored the final points of the half with five seconds left and trailed 22-16 at the break.

The Lady Warriors scored the first eight points of the third quarter and led 30-16 with 5:41 remaining. The Lady Cougars outscored the Lady Warriors 11-7 in the time left in the period but Choctaw Central led 37-27 at the break.

Newton County wouldn’t go away as they outscored Choctaw Central 16-12 in the final eight minutes. With 27 seconds left, the Lady Cougars pulled to within four points – 47-43. But then a Choctaw Central field goal five seconds left sealed the deal.

Kylinn Bell was on her way to a big night as she led the team with 10 points. Mattison Bell and Malaka Morris both added nine points each.

Lady Warriors 69

South Pontotoc 48

Choctaw Central came on strong in the second half to defeat South Pontotoc Friday night in the third round of the state tournament.

With Choctaw Central leading 18-11 after the first quarter, South Pontotoc outscored the Lady Warriors 13-10. Choctaw Central led 28-24 at the half.

Choctaw Central outscored South Pontotoc 20-10 in the third quarter to carry a 48-34 lead into the final quarter. They outscored South Pontotoc 21-14 in the final quarter to seal the deal.

Kylie Williamson led the Lady Warriors with 17, Malaka Morris added 14. Kyla Farmer put in 11 points and Kylinn Bell scored 10.