After beginning the district schedule beating every team in Region 8, the Wildcats (11-11, 7-3) have lost three of their last five games and their last two to close out the regular season.
TJ Monroe did everything he could offensively in the season finale last Tuesday at Seminary, scoring 30 points on 58 percent shooting, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a tough defensive game for the Wildcats in the 82-58 loss.
It may sound simplistic, but head coach Charlie James said the Wildcats have to get back to playing the way that led them to a 5-0 start in district.
“We have to start to focus more on the defensive end. We haven’t been focusing there,” he said. “Then we just have to execute offensively. We’ve been taking a lot of bad shots. If we do those things, I think we’ll be OK. We have to do those two things — defend well and take better shots.”
The Wildcats played West Marion to open the district tournament Tuesday night at Seminary, but results were unavailable at press time. While Columbia entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed with Tylertown and Jefferson Davis County as the top two seeds, respectively, the Wildcats have confidence after beating both just a few weeks ago.
“That’s one of the good things going in. We have beaten both teams (ahead of us) so that does give us a little confidence going in. At the same time those teams have gotten better, and we have to get better and play better as well,” he said. “That’s the key. We have to put together our best performances these next couple of nights. If we do that, we’ll have a shot.”
If the Wildcats do end up hoisting the district tournament trophy Friday night, it would be the second consecutive year they’ve done so.
“That would be huge for the sake of the program,” James said. “For what we’re trying to build and teach going forward, that would be huge going forward. We would always have that to reference back to if need be. You always look for those positives when you’re teaching.”
The Wildcats would play Jeff Davis Thursday night and the championship Friday night at 8:30 both days if they continue to advance.
The Lady Wildcats (12-10, 6-4), on the other hand, ended their regular season with a convincing win but have similarly lost three of their last five.
They played Wesson Tuesday night in the first round, who the Lady Wildcats beat by an average of 36.5 points per game in their first two meetings this season, but results were unavailable at press time. With a win they would advance to play Jeff Davis Thursday at 7. The Lady Jaguars beat Columbia twice this season, but both games came down to the wire.
James said the Lady Wildcats need to play a “complete game” to keep Jeff Davis from pulling off the season sweep.
“We’ve played them tough twice but left so many opportunities on the floor,” he said. “We can’t keep leaving those opportunities on the floor. Missing easy buckets and free throws really come back to haunt you in close games. We need to take care of those opportunities when they are given.”
Throughout the season the Lady Wildcats have had multiple games in which two of their top four players — Tyra Conerly, Jaleel Hartfield, Jasmine Sheppard and Christina James who each average at least eight points per game — have big games and on occasion, three of them have. But there hasn’t been one single game in which all of them have played their best basketball. James believes if those four all get it going on the same night, the Lady Wildcats would be very tough to beat.
“All season I’ve tried to talk them about if we could ever get it to where everybody gets going at the same time, I really like their chances against anyone,” he said. “It would be huge if they could all just find a way to get clicking on the same night. I think they could really make a deep run.”
James’s message to both the Wildcats and Lady Wildcats heading into the tournament was simple.
“I told them it’s a new season. If we can adjust and play our best basketball the next week or so, anything is possible,” he said.
Pictured Above: District MVP TJ Monroe takes Wesson's Dell Thigpen off the dribble. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
