Leake Academy teams headed to North State tournament
The Leake Academy Rebelettes had little trouble winning another district tournament championship last week.
The Rebelettes took a pair of 31-point wins, pounding host Lamar 51-20 on Thursday and then beating Starkville 63-32 on Saturday in the championship game.
The Rebels won one of three games as they beat East Rankin 78-69 on Tuesday to qualify for the North State Tournament. The Rebels then lost 78-36 to Heritage and 60-55 to Lamar.
The Leake girls are the No. 1 seed from District 2 and will play District No. 4 seed Washington on Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. at Magnolia Heights in Senatobia. The Rebels are the No. 4 seed out of the district and will play No. 1 seed Pillow on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Leake Academy girls 63
Starkville 32
The Rebelettes dominated from the outset and cruised to a 31-point win in the district tournament finals.
Leake jumped out to a 25-8 lead in the first period and outscored Starkville 23-2 in the second period to lead 48-10 at the half. With a running clock in the second half, Leake outscored Starkville 13-11 in the third but the Lady Volunteers took the fourth 11-2 for the final margin.
Emmi Harkins led Leake with 18 points as she was 7-of-8 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 from the 3-point line. Miriam Harkins had 17 points and five assists while Morgan Freeny hd 11 points, seven assists and four rebounds. Ashley Smith had seven points, four assists and three rebounds while Savanna Greer and Deanna Wilder each had four points apiece.
Leake Academy girls 51
Lamar 20
The Rebelettes overcame a slow start to take a 31-point win over the Lady Raiders on Thursday in the tournament semifinals, beating the defending Overall Champions for the third straight time this season.
Leake started slow and led 6-3 at the end of the first before outscoring Lamar 15-2 in the second to lead 21-5 at the half. Leake got rolling on offense in the third, outscoring Lamar 28-12 to start the running clock and led 49-17 going to the fourth.
Miriam Price led Leake with 14 points, three steals and three assists. Ashley Smith had nine points, four assists and four rebounds while Mabry Mayfield had eight points and eight rebounds. Emmi Harkins had five points and five rebounds while Morgan Freeny had five points, three steals and three rebounds.
Leake Academy boys 78
East Rankin 69
The Rebels had one of their best offensive games of the season as they took a nine-point win over the Patriots to advance to the tournament semifinals and qualify for the North State Tournament on Tuesday.
Leake led 18-13 at the end of the first period and 32-25 at the half. East Rankin outscored lead 21-19 in the third but the Rebels finished by outscoring the Patriots 27-23 in the fourth to take the win.
Ben Harrison led Leake with 24 points, tying a season high, while Henry Dabbs had 22 points. Freshman Whitt Welch had 17 points while Hayden Hannis had eight points and Hagan Davis added seven points.
Heritage boys 78
Leake Academy 36
The Rebels fell to the defending Class AAA champions for the third time this season in a 42-point loss.
Heritage dominated the first half, outscoring Leake 28-9 in the first and 25-9 in the second to lead 53-18 at the half. Leake took the third period 10-9 while Heritage finished off by outscoring the Rebels 16-8 in the fourth to take the win.
Ben Harrison led Leake with 12 points while Henry Dabbs added six points. Thomas Strength and Landon Sessums each had five points apiece.
Lamar 60
Leake Academy boys 55
The Raiders pulled away in the second half and held on to take a hard-fought five-point win over the Rebels on Saturday in the consolation game.
Each team scored 12 in the first and 16 in the second to tie the game at 28-28 at the half. Lamar outscored Leake 16-15 in the third to take a 36-35 lead into the fourth. Lamar finished the fourth by outscoring Leake 16-12 to take the win.
Ben Harrison led Leake with 16 points while Hagan Davis and Hayden Hannis each had 13 points apiece. Whitt Welch had seven points while Hagan Pike added six points.