Winning a district championship and a district tournament title in a week is hardly an easy feat.
South Pike’s girls basketball team made it look far too simple when the Lady Tigers beat Lawrence County, 51-40, on Friday night for the Region 7-4A district tournament title.
The win capped off a remarkable seven days for South Pike, one which also included the regular season title last Friday with a win over Tylertown.
“It’s really hard,” South Pike coach Janice Felder said of the past week. “You always have those teams going in as a No. 1 seed. ... You have everybody gunning for you. You can’t be not focused. If you do, somebody will beat you because they’re gunning for you.”
South Pike (23-6) led by as many as 15 points in Friday’s game before finishing off Lawrence County by 11. The Lady Eagles had previously beaten the Lady Cougars twice this season.
“It caps off the good season that we’ve been having ... winning the regular season then coming back and winning the district tournament,” Felder said. “The girls really, really have been playing hard. I have no complaints because they’ve really been playing good basketball lately.”
Akayla Powell scored 13 points and Jamaya Carter added 12 points to pace South Pike.
Eighth-grader Destiny Gordon finished with eight points, Tremayia Weatherspoon had six points and Breyonna Goode had five points.
South Pike hosts Richland, the No. 4 seed from Region 6-4A, on Monday night.
Felder said she isn’t too familiar with Richland (12-13), but spent the weekend preparing for the quick turnaround.
Richland’s Talisa Sherman has propelled the team the entire season, averaging 20 points per game. Sherman poured in a season-high 40 points in a Feb. 8 win over Mendenhall.
“We have to celebrate, but we need to refocus for Monday’s game knowing if you lose, you go home,” she said.
