The Columbus High School girls basketball team showed Friday night it has the ability to deliver a knockout punch and the conditioning to last 15 rounds.
The CHS boys showed they are developing that knack but that they lack the experience and are still learning how to go the distance.
As a result, the CHS girls and boys will have different roads to Jackson beginning next week.
Maggie Proffitt scored a career-high 38 points to lead the CHS girls to a 91-59 victory against Tupelo in the Class 6A-Region 2 championship game at Columbus High.
Roshon Coleman had 16 points, including 6 of 7 free throws in the final minute and a half, to lead the Tupelo High boys to a 54-47 victory against Columbus in the boys title game.
The CHS girls (24-2) will play host to defending Class 6A state champion Northwest Rankin, which lost at home to Jackson Murrah 48-42 on Friday, at 7 p.m. Monday. Tupelo will travel to Jackson Murrah.
The CHS boys will go on the road and take on Jim Hill, which beat Madison Central 43-37 Friday, on Tuesday at a time to be determined. Tupelo will play host to Madison Central on Tuesday.
In the girls game, Columbus built an 8-0 lead and led 23-11 after eight minutes. The Lady Falcons used a high-energy transition game that pushed the tempo off misses to record one of the team’s highest scoring games this season. Kiandria Patterson had 22 points, Daisha Williams added 16, and Kameron Corrothers had eight to help Columbus win its second district title in a row.
“We came out and did a lot of things we wanted to do,” Columbus coach Yvonne Hairston said. “We played an up-tempo game, we got a lot of fast-break points, blocked out, and did the fundamental things.”
Columbus led by 30 early in the third quarter and as many as 36 later in the stanza. Hairston removed Patterson, Proffitt, Corrothers, and Williams with 5:41 to go in the game only to re-insert her starters at the 4:42 mark after her second unit played sluggishly. Columbus didn’t miss a beat, as Proffitt hit a 3-pointer off an assist from Williams to push the margin to 78-48.
In the boys game, Deontae Jones and Brandon Porter paced Columbus (13-13) with 12 points apiece. The Falcons worked their way back from a 15-point deficit in the third quarter and needed one or two more plays in the fourth quarter to add even more drama. Five times Columbus cut the deficit to five points, but two possessions told the story.
On the first, Columbus was whistled for a 10-second count after Coleman missed his only free throw in the final 1 minute, 26 seconds. Columbus then missed two free throws following a Tupelo turnover that would have allowed it to cut the lead to three with 20.2 seconds to play.
Columbus was 9 of 16 from the free-throw line and missed at least a half dozen layups or dunks.
Still, Columbus coach Sammy Smith was proud of his team for battling even though it dropped its third game to Tupelo this season.
“We play the game tomorrow and you tell me we are going to be in that position with five minutes to go in the game, I will say OK,” Smith said. “We didn’t make plays in the first half that men make. We’re not quite there yet. I told them to shoot the same shot tomorrow and the next day because you’re going to make that play.”
Tupelo used a 9-2 run in the final 3:13 of the first quarter to take an 18-10 lead. The lead grew to 28-18 at halftime as the Golden Wave settled in defensively and forced the Falcons into four turnovers in the first four-plus minutes of the quarter. Tupelo also received balanced scoring, as Dajon Reno had 15 points and Jordan Sadler and Chaz Jones each had eight.
“We knew coming down here it wasn’t going to be easy,” said Tupelo coach Grant Pate, whose team improved to 22-8. “I thought our guys came out and set the tone. We knew Columbus was going to come in fired up and ready to go playing at home. We challenged our guys that they’re going to have to give more effort than they’re capable of giving, and they did. Our man-to-man defense has really been good for us, and the kids are really playing as a team.”
J.J. Swanigan added nine points for Columbus, while C.J. Scott had six.
n In other action, the third-seeded West Point High School boys upset top-seeded Oxford 69-64 in Oxford to win the Class 5A-Region 2 title. The top-seeded Oxford girls beat third-seeded West Point to send the Lady Green Wave to a first-round matchup Monday at Jackson Lanier. The West Point boys will play host to a first-round game Tuesday.
In Macon, the Leake County girls and Louisville boys won the Region 4-4A tournament titles.
The Leake County girls knocked off Noxubee County 64-50, while the Louisville boys also knocked off Noxubee County, 60-57.
In Maben, the Houlka boys rolled to a 68-42 Region 4-1A championship game win over West Oktibbeha.
In girls play, the West Oktibbeha Lady Timberwolves knocked off Vardaman 44-39 in the consolation game.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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