Her squad is off to its worst start in six years. Team chemistry has been an issue all season.
Still. McComb head girls’ basketball coach Angelia Johnson said her Lady Tigers have nothing to fear.
McComb opens Region 5-5A play Friday at West Jones, with a road meeting versus Class 6A Natchez on Tuesday. And even with several questions remaining, Johnson said her team is ready to roll in the second half of the season.
“We’ve got our guns cocked and loaded,” said Johnson, in her sixth season at McComb, “and we’re going to be OK.”
McComb opened the season losing three of its first four games, including a 81-49 beating at the hands of South Pike on Nov. 18 in the Brookhaven Tournament.
Johnson said many of the Lady Tigers’ early-season troubles came in the form of injuries and disciplinary problems that forced many girls to play out of position.
Junior post player Audrekus Dexter has been out since suffering an ankle injury in McComb’s loss to South Pike on Dec. 7.
Johnson said Dexter has been cleared to play when the season resumes this week.
Senior guard Rickyshia Marsaw missed a week earlier this month after she sustained a possible separated shoulder, and sophomore guard Angeline Earl was out a week after suffering chest pains and was rushed to the hospital before McComb’s game at North Pike on Dec. 17.
Senior shooting guard Sierra Patterson will join her teammates for the first time this season when the Lady Tigers take the court Tuesday. Patterson had missed the entire season due to disciplinary issues, according to Johnson.
“Each season, every team has its highs and lows,” Johnson said. “We went through our valley early.
“We placed some people in positions they were uncomfortable with,” Johnson continued. “We had a lot of people who were not able to carry the load and fill their roles. We’ve got all our ducks in a row now.”
Last Tuesday, the Lady Tigers showed what could be in the second half of the season with a 62-33 dismantling of Class 6A George County in the Picayune Christmas Invitational.
“Nobody’s played up to their potential just yet,” Johnson said, “but it’s going to happen. You just have to fight through all this. You just have to keep moving.”
As for the challenging district slate facing her team, Johnson said the Lady Tigers simply need to play up to their potential.
“We are our own worst enemy. We stop ourselves from doing a lot of things,” she said. “If we can change that, nobody scares me.”
