SOUTHAVEN — This wasn’t the way it was supposed to end.
For the second straight year, the Columbus High School girls basketball team dug itself a double-digit hole in a game hailing distance from the state’s biggest stage.
This time, the Lady Falcons didn’t just get close, they clawed their way all the way back — and then took the lead.
As quickly as a trip to Jackson appeared to be in their grasp, it vanished.
Brittany Grant hit a jump shot with 40.1 seconds remaining, and Alondrea Rush made a steal and hit two free throws to help Horn Lake High to a 53-49 victory in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A North State semifinals at Southaven High.
“It was just effort. We wanted to win the ballgame, and we didn’t,” Columbus High coach Yvonne Hairston said. “They have a lot of heart. They just didn’t win the ballgame.”
With the victory, Horn Lake advances to the Class 6A North State title game at 7 today to face Southaven, which defeated Jackson 63-54. Columbus ends its season at 25-3.
An offensive rebound by Porchia Brooks led to a “swooshing” 3-pointer by Kiandria Patterson (nine points) from the left wing that gave Columbus a 47-45 lead with 1 minute, 55 seconds to play. The basket marked the first time Patterson was able to shake the defense of Bush and Brittani Biggins. Both players picked up Patterson wherever she went, virtually taking her out of the offense.
“They did a good job. We just didn’t execute in the first half,” Hairston said.
Savannah Kimmos (15 points) hit 1 of 2 free throws and Jasmine Edwards converted a layup after beating the defense back to give Horn Lake a 48-47 lead. Maggie Proffitt was whistled for her fifth foul on the play.
But Daisha Williams (game-high 18 points) rose to the occasion again, draining a jump shot to give Columbus the lead at 49-48 with 1:02 to go. Following a timeout, Grant (team-high 17 points) hit the jumper that gave Horn Lake the lead for good. Rush made it stand up as she stole the ball in the backcourt on the ensuing possession. She hit two free throws with 25 seconds remaining to kick the lead to 52-49. Columbus called timeout with 19.1 seconds left, but it turned the ball over on a pass from the left wing into the middle. Grant hit 1 of 2 free throws to account for the final margin.
“We have been here twice and we have lost twice in the same spot,” Hairston said. “We are disappointed. I am disappointed in myself as a coach. I think I could have done more. We were ready and we did everything we were supposed to do, and we just didn’t win the ballgame. Horn Lake was just the better team tonight.”
As much as offense fueled Columbus’ comeback, Patterson’s defense on Rush played just as big a role. The Columbus junior face-guarded her backcourt counterpart and denied her the ball as much as possible. Forced to go with Grant at the point, Horn Lake rushed shots and settled for 3-pointers, which aided Columbus’ rally.
Columbus trailed 18-4 after one quarter and 31-15 at halftime before it shifted into another gear. The Lady Falcons used a 16-0 run in a stretch of 5:08 in the third quarter to turn a 14-point deficit into a 37-35 lead on a shot off the glass by Brooks. Williams, Proffitt, and Laterrica Jefferson each had four points in the spurt that energized the crowd.
“I was thinking if they have two players on Kiandria I had to step up and do my thing,” Williams said.
The game was tied three more times before the championship drama kicked in in the final three-plus minutes.
“I thought we were going to win this ballgame,” Hairston said. “We never stopped thinking we were going to win this ballgame.”
Patterson attempted just three shots before making her first basket with 2 minutes, 10 seconds left in the second half. Horn Lake used the smaller and quicker Rush on Patterson. When Columbus High’s junior guard did have a bit of breathing room, Horn Lake ran another player at Patterson to force her off her intended path. The result not only took Patterson out of the offense, but it also created a false sense of urgency that forced Columbus into turnovers. The Lady Falcons had six turnovers in each of the first two quarters.
The turnovers were atypical because the passes typically were plays Columbus made in the regular season. In the first quarter, Patterson attempted to hit Proffitt in transition, but the pass was too high. Early in the second quarter, another pass intended for a Columbus player on the low block was tipped away.
Despite the pain of the loss, the performances of Jefferson, who battled through a sore left ankle she sprained late in the season, Brooks, and Williams provided even more signs that Columbus is maturing as a basketball team. That was little consolation to Williams and the Lady Falcons. She said the 85-69 loss to Northwest Rankin in the second round of the Class 6A North State tournament gave the team a taste of how tough it needed to be. Columbus fell behind by as many as 24 points in the first half before cutting the deficit in half before eventually losing.
Friday’s outcome, though, was supposed to be different.
“I think we grew up a lot,” Williams said. “This one hurts a lot more.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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