After getting off to a strong start in the Copiah Christmas Classic with a double-overtime win over Parklane Academy, the Lady Cougars lost a heartbreaker in the semifinals before collapsing in the consolation game.
Columbia Academy (10-10) went toe to toe with the host school, Copiah Academy, Dec. 28 but lost 29-28 in the final moments of the game.
Head coach Dale Watts said it was a hard game for the Lady Cougars to lose because they led practically the whole game and were up 17-8 at halftime. But in the second half, Copiah switched its defense up and disrupted the CA offense to the point that Copiah took a late 27-25 lead. Then CA sharpshooter Maggie Wilks knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Lady Cougars up 28-27 with 40 seconds to play. However, Copiah finally answered with a bucket in the paint with 2.9 seconds remaining. The Lady Cougars got one last shot, but it rimmed out.
“I was really pleased,” Watts said despite the loss. “The girls played extremely smart and extremely hard. Copiah has got a really good team. They have a couple girls at the post that are very strong, then they have some perimeter players that are very good. We really played them extremely well.”
As well as CA played against Copiah, the Lady Cougars couldn’t get out of their own way the next day in a 59-25 loss to Hartfield Academy.
“We just didn’t play well. I don’t know how else to put it — we just had a bad game,” Watts said. “The girls couldn’t do things right, and they beat us right off the bat. We had talked about having to stop their transition offense and them getting to the basket, and we did neither.”
The veteran coach added consistency game to game has been an issue for the Lady Cougars, but the reality is their season didn’t truly begin until Tuesday, when district play began. CA played host to Silliman Institute Tuesday night, but results were unavailable at press time. It will play at Bowling Green Friday and play host to North Forrest in a non-district matchup Saturday.
Columbia Academy will play district games each Tuesday and Friday throughout the remainder of the season, and there will not be a district tournament this season. The top four teams in the district standing will automatically qualify for the South State Tournament.
UPDATE: The Lady Cougars defeated Silliman 47-44 Tuesday.
