West Marion’s senior night Jan. 13 was one to be remembered for a number of reasons. Both squads earned big district wins over St. Stanislaus and Our Lady Academy, and senior Raven Jones earned a special place in the program’s history with quite the grand accomplishment — becoming the first Lady Trojan to score 1,000 career points.
In a contest where the Lady Trojans (17-2, 5-1) — heralded as one of top girls teams in all of Class 3A — pulled away earlier en route to a 49-9 victory, Jones scored all of her 10 points in the opening period before the deficit became large enough for the starting unit to call it a night. In doing so, she reached the 1,000-point milestone, which she was recognized for during the senior night ceremony with a plaque to commemorate her extraordinary success as an elite scorer for West Marion basketball.
Although it went in the books as an individual feat, Jones said she sees it as more of a team accomplishment, crediting not only her current teammates and coaches but everyone who’s supported her in her quest to become the best she can be on and off the court.
“First of all, I want to give all the praise, glory and honor to God, for without Him none of the things I have accomplished so far would be possible,” Jones said. “I would also like to thank my mom, sister, brother and my dad for their support and prayers. I credit scoring 1,000 points to all who have been involved in my life.
“After my eighth-grade season, they moved me up to finish out the season (with the varsity team). When I scored my first 20 points as an eighth-grader, that’s when my focus on scoring became important to me. As the game started getting harder, I learned that defense creates offense. Then coach Newsome came along and made me focus even more on defense. He taught me how to get my teammates more involved, but if it wasn’t for my teammates trusting me, I would’ve never accomplished scoring a 1,000 points in my career.”
The senior night ceremony was rather emotional for Jones, who found it hard to believe her days as a Lady Trojan had seemingly come and gone in a flash. When she looks back on her time with the program, she believes she’ll always remember the rivalries that challenged her to up her game, leading to significant success for her and her teammates over the past two seasons.
“These last four years have been amazing, going from an average team to actually competing. My last two years have been filled with discipline, and it was an adjustment,” Jones said. “What I will remember most is the competition level from rival teams such as Columbia, JDC and Petal that made the game even more exciting to play. I’ll also always remember my teammates.”
After the ceremony, the Trojans (5-15, 3-3) followed suit with a win over their own, their second of the season over district rival St. Stanislaus by a score of 48-39. With the win, the Trojans pulled within half a game of Jeff Davis County for third place in the Region 8-3A standings with only four games remaining on the regular-season schedule.
The Trojans and Lady Trojans will begin a three-game road trip Jan. 24 when they travel to Jeff Davis County to take on the Jaguars, followed by trips to Perry Central and Tylertown. They’ll wrap up the regular season on the home floor Feb. 2 against St. Patrick before competition heats up with postseason play.
