On paper it looked like an upset as the No. 4 seeded McComb girls topped No.1 Stone 66-52 Monday evening in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs. But for Tiger head coach Charlton Grey, it didn’t feel like one.
“No, I know what I have and I know what Stone has,” he said. “And like I’ve always said, coaches normally don’t change what they normally do. Some coaches just believe what they believe in.”
Despite pulling out the win, things got off to a rough start for the Tigers. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead but then gave up a 13-0 run to the Tomcats.
Grey called timeout and after getting a quick score on the ensuing play, things began to turn around for McComb. The Tigers went on a run of their own that spilled over into the second quarter. While Keaunna Cruse provided much of the defense, fellow senior Chanel Gayden did the majority of the scoring with 11 points in the second quarter.
McComb pulled within one at 23-22 at the half.
In the third quarter, Gayden scored another four points as she was complemented by a pair of 3-pointers from Deondrea Young, three points from Gamble, a basket from Calise Jackson and seven points from Kinesha Harris.
But even though the Tiger offense shined with 22 third quarter points, its defense was just as effective slowing down the Tomcat attack. Stone was limited to just nine points as McComb took a 44-32 lead into the fourth quarter.
From there, another strong output from both Harris and Young helped lead the charge for the Tigers who rode off with the win.
McComb was led by Young who scored 18 points. Gayden posted 17 points, while Harris had 16.
The Tigers move on to Round 2 where they will travel to Moss Point tonight at 6 p.m.
Tigers fall to Tomcats
It was not the outcome that McComb head coach Karshae Peterson expected Monday night as his No. 4 Tigers faced No. 1 Stone to open the Class 4A playoffs. McComb struggled for the majority of the night, eventually falling to the Tomcats 69-36.
“We didn’t stick to the game plan,” Peterson said. “They (Stone) hit some shots, they hit some big shots. We couldn’t throw it in the ocean yesterday. We ran the offense but we couldn’t hit open shots.”
Peterson added that he did not want to make the excuse of not playing for over two weeks after his game was delayed due to the recent winter weather that moved through the area.
Early on, the Tiger defense was tested by a stellar Tomcat team led by Cortez Dennis. The senior was a thorn in the side of McComb all night, especially in the first quarter where he scored 11 of his 24 points.
Trailing 15-7 entering the second quarter, the Tigers continued to try and find their footing offensively. Isaac Gary posted four points to lead the charge, however McComb as a whole went just 1-of-4 from the free throw line.
In the third, four points each from Gary and Galvin Speight fueled the Tigers but the Tomcats continued to roll, taking a 45-26 lead into the fourth quarter before eventually sealing the win.
Gary led the Tigers with 10 points
