Right now, the West Marion Lady Trojans are the best basketball team in Marion County, which is a statement that has rarely been uttered by anyone who follows hoops in the county.
The Lady Trojans (10-4) have been on a roll of late, winning six of their last seven games with their lone loss being a game they should have won. That loss was at home Dec. 14 against Petal as misses from the charity stripe led to a 47-43 loss. But West Marion rebounded to beat Bogue Chitto 63-47 on the road Dec. 16 and Columbia at home Friday 72-48.
“We’re learning to compete now, which is a good sign,” head coach Calvin Newsome said. “We let the Petal game slip away by not making free throws — we went 2-for-12 on free throws — and if we had made those free throws, we would’ve won it, I believe. But we bounced back against Bogue Chitto at their place, made free throws and got a win. We’re learning to get after it more with our press, and we’re starting to find out more about how to close out games. Friday against Columbia, we just jumped on them early. They have a lot of talent for as young as they are, but they kind of laid down when we jumped on them early.”
It’s been a long time since the Lady Trojans swept both Columbia and East Marion, and Newsome said he wants to do something to commemorate them. They beat East Marion twice, 69-57 and 47-35, and Columbia twice, 36-20 and 72-48.
“They were excited to win. We’re going to try to get some shirts made to recognize them. I think this is the first time the West girls have ever won it to be county champs with a sweep like that,” he said. “West Marion Lady Trojan basketball is becoming a thing people want to come see.”
Newsome added he would love to see the county championship become a thing in basketball complete with a trophy similar to football.
The Lady Trojans are in the midst of a 12-day break before they return to play host to Wesson Dec. 30. They will resume district play Jan. 4 at Jeff Davis County.
Meanwhile, the Trojans lost to Columbia Friday night 69-31. Head coach Mark Stringer could not immediately be reached for comment.
