The Lady Cougars had their season come to an end Monday in the opening round of the MAIS Overall Tournament at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.
Columbia Academy (30-10), as the AAA No. 2 seed, fell 47-37 to Lamar School, the AAAA Division 2 No. 2 seed.
For having experienced the heartbreak of Saturday’s championship loss in double overtime with only one day off, head coach Dale Watts said the Lady Cougars played well against Lamar and he’s proud of the effort they gave.
“We had a real hard draw. Lamar has a real good team. We played them twice during the year, and they beat us handily both times. We kept our head in there and battled,” he said. “It was a close game.”
CA had cut Lamar’s lead down to 34-32 with three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter after creating some turnovers and fouling the right players to steal possessions. However, Lamar bounced back with a pair of 3-pointers and made its free throws down the stretch to seal the deal.
Watts actually coached the game in a long blonde wig because of a bet he made with the team several months ago. They bet that if the Lady Cougars beat Leake Academy and won state, he would wear the wig in the Overall Tournament. He said in his opinion they beat Leake and won state, so he wore the wig during Monday’s game.
Pictured Above: The Lady Cougars pose with their MAIS AAA second-place trophy following Saturday's double overtime loss to Leake Academy. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
