After losing three of their first four games, including a 37-36 heartbreaker to South Pike before a 17-day break, the Columbia Lady Wildcats bounced back with two crucial wins over the past week.
The East Marion Lady Eagles, meanwhile, dropped back-to-back games after a 3-1 start.
Last Friday night, the Lady Wildcats were able to press East Marion all night long on the defensive end, forcing 15 turnovers and holding the Lady Eagles to just 14 points over the final three quarters in a 46-25 contest.
“They kind of got off to a sluggish start, but they hung in there defensively,” Columbia head coach Charlie James said. “Our defensive pressure is what I think really got us going. We were able to get a couple steals and a couple shots to go in the basket, then we started to feel confident and that helped us along the way. I can’t remember if (East Marion) even hit a jump shot in that game. We knew they wanted to go inside to (Tytianna Porter), and we wanted to take that away and force them to do some other stuff. I felt we got lucky with that.”
East Marion head coach Calvin Brown said the turnovers were just growing pains but lauded James’ coaching as a big difference in the game.
“Coach James does a good job of giving you different looks out of the zone he plays, and he was able to protect his back line,” he said. “We felt like they weren’t going to be able to stay in front of us in space, but he did a good job of protecting them on the back line and keeping them out of bad situations. Our decision making and shot selection will improve as we mature. The difference in the Columbia game was their freshmen played mature and our freshmen played like freshmen.”
Another big factor was Columbia’s perimeter shooting as the Wildcats drained 6-of-12 from behind the arc.
“Jaleel (Hartfield) and Tyra (Conerly) shot it OK, but collectively that was probably our best shooting night,” James said. “I thought our freshman, Jasmine Sheppard, stepped up and played a huge game for us. I was really impressed with her.”
Hartfield led the way for Columbia with 11 points and five assists, while Conerly had 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals and Sheppard had 10 points and three steals. Porter led the way for the Lady Eagles with 13 points and 11 rebounds, but Amber Willis, who is usually as consistent as they come, shot just 1-of-7 from the field for three points while no other Lady Eagle scored more than three points.
On Tuesday, the Lady Wildcats were on the road and picked up a 40-31 win over Northeast Jones as Sheppard scored a career-high 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Hartfield had 10 points and eight rebounds, while Conerly added eight points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals.
James said he believes if the Lady Wildcats can learn how to prepare better before tipoff to avoid slow starts, they will be fine.
The Lady Eagles, meanwhile, struggled on the road Tuesday night in a 55-32 loss to Laurel after falling behind by 19 points at halftime.
“I saw growth, but they were just so much bigger than us,” Brown said. “Over time, they smothered us. Again, they were more mature and comfortable in game situations. They knew what they were looking for and had a mature approach to it. We’re still trying to figure a lot out, and it’s hard to do that at game speed. It’s like trying to learn the test while you’re taking it.”
The Lady Eagles hosted Picayune and the Lady Wildcats hosted South Pike Friday night, but results were unavailable at press time. East Marion will be on the road Tuesday night to take on Jeff Davis County, while Columbia will travel to North Forrest.
Pictured Above: Columbia’s Jaleel Hartfield drives past East Marion’s Amber Willis toward the basket at Columbia High School’s gym last Friday night. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
