For the first three quarters Tuesday night, the North Pike Lady Jaguars tried not to fall behind and South Pike head coach Marcus Flippin couldn’t help but look ahead.
After struggling with their cross-county rivals’ defense for the most of three quarters, the Lady Jaguars came alive in a 26-point fourth quarter and pulled away for a 67-36 victory over a depleted South Pike squad on Senior Night at the North Pike gymnasium.
Against North Pike, the Lady Eagles sat their starters for the first of two games, a punishment handed down by the Mississippi High School Activities Association following a scuffle in last Tuesday’s home game against Columbia. South Pike’s starters also will have to sit Friday when the Lady Eagles host Crystal Springs.
The loss Tuesday night dropped South Pike to 19-6 overall and 7-2 in Region 7-4A.
Although the Lady Eagles currently stand in second place, a loss against Crystal Springs would likely drop them to third in the standings, forcing them into a first-round game in the district tournament beginning Monday at Port Gibson. The top two teams in the district will receive first-round byes in the tournament.
According to South Pike head coach Marcus Flippin, only a few starters were slated to miss Tuesday night’s game before the other starters stepped forward.
“The girls decided that if you sit some of us, you sit all of us,” Flippin said. “Someone called the MHSAA and stretched the truth and said it was a brawl.”
While the starters sit, Flippin will get a look at his team’s future. On Tuesday night, the young Lady Eagles gave their coach a glimpse of a promising future with a pressing 2-3 zone defense that mostly forced North Pike to the perimeter.
“Coach Flippin had them ready to play,” said North Pike head coach Lance Golmon, whose Lady Jaguars improved to 16-6 and 8-1. “Their length on top of their zone gave us problems. We didn’t play down, they played up. They basically took away the inside from us.”
South Pike’s defense shut down the suddenly perimeter-oriented Lady Jaguars. The team’s top scorer and senior wing guard Olivia Kennedy was 0-for-5 from behind the three-point arch and limited to 10 first-half points, six coming from the free-throw line.
In fact, North Pike collectively did not sink a three-pointer until senior guard Shanika Turner’s trey from the left wing pushed the Lady Jaguars’ lead to 50-25 with 5:54 to play.
The basket also started a run for Turner, who scored seven consecutive points, including another three and a jumper from the right wing to extend the margin to 55-28. Turner finished with 13 points.
Kennedy drained her only three-pointer of the game to make it 61-34 with 2:26 to play. Despite her struggles from the perimeter, Kennedy finished with 17 points.
“This is going to be a special group for me,” Flippin said of his young team. “We showed tonight, especially in the first half, that we we’ve got a bright future here.”
While South Pike was shutting down the hosts’ offense, the Lady Eagles were getting their points from the charity stripe. Thirteen of South Pike’s first 17 points came on free throws as the Lady Jaguars got into early foul trouble.
Their saving grace came in the third period in Kaylan Hughes. After being limited to four first-half points, the sophomore center erupted for 10 points in the third quarter and finished with 17 points. Her short baseline jumper, followed by a steal and breakaway layup gave North Pike a 31-21 advantage.
Hughes then fielded a pass from Kennedy and hit a left baseline jumper while drawing the foul. Her free throw completed the three-point play and made it 34-23 with 4:41 left in the first half. North Pike led 41-25 after the third quarter.
“When Kaylan’s on the floor,” Golmon said, “she takes us to another level.”
Akayla Powell led South Pike with 11 points.
