The task after halftime was a simple one for the Columbus High School girls basketball team, said Mashanti Saddler.
“In the second half, we were like, we’ve got to step on their necks,” Saddler said matter-of-factly, and the Falcons basically did just that.
Makayla Rieves scored 19 points and Shania Givens tallied 18 as Columbus crushed Canton 58-33 on Friday night in the MHSAA Class 5A quarterfinals at Columbus High School.
The Falcons never trailed in the game, and after it was 2-2 it was never tied. But the home team couldn’t quite shake the Tigers during the first half, twice taking nine-point leads and watching the Tigers chip away. So despite leading 25-17 at halftime, something had to change.
“I think that when we first went out there our energy was so pumped up, we had to just settle in,” Columbus coach Yvonne Hairston said. “We went in and we talked at halftime, and they settled in and went back to our game plan.”
“She was telling us to breathe and slow down and play our game and don’t let them play us,” Rieves said.
That meant properly attacking the Canton zone.
“In the first half, we didn’t get in the gaps,” Hairston said. “Second half, we started to get into the gaps, and Shania started pulling up and hitting little jumpers.
“Sometimes those 3s aren’t going. We started getting into the gaps, we started making those 15-footers, and that was the difference in the game.”
Putting theory into practice, along with crashing the offensive boards when those jumpers didn’t fall, resulted in a 24-7 run spanning the third and fourth quarters that put away the game for the Falcons.
The run started with Givens pushing the ball up the floor and hitting a smooth 12-foot jumper, was highlighted by steals by Givens and Rieves to set up scores and featured Saddler and Rieves hitting both free throws after being fouled on putbacks.
It was capped by Givens making a steal and feeding MaKhya Weatherspoon for an easy bucket to end the third quarter. The Falcons scored the first six points of the fourth with Givens hitting a 15-footer, grabbing a rebound and sending an outlet pass to Weatherspoon for a score and a coast-to-coast layup from Rieves.
“We’ve got a lot of different players on our team that can make different types of shots,” Givens said.
When the smoke cleared, it was 49-26 and the Falcons were making plans for their trip to Jackson for the semifinals. And as good as Columbus looked Friday night, a lot went into that effort.
“We practice a lot, we practice in school, out of school, we practice day and night and everybody is putting in their time and work,” Saddler said.
The Falcons now sit two victories away from regaining the Class 5A title they won two years ago.
“I think we’re more balanced this year,” Hairston said. “We can go small if we need to, and we can go big when we need to. The same will to win, that pride in Columbus Lady Falcon basketball, is still there.”
Hairston’s veterans do not lack the confidence to go with it.
“We’ve got more experience,” Rieves said. “I’m leading now, so we’ve got to take it.”
“I know we can beat any team we play against if we just be ourselves,” Givens added.
High school basketball takes over Mississippi Coliseum on Monday, but the Falcons will have one more day to prepare for their semifinal game at 4 p.m. Tuesday against Brookhaven, a 53-44 winner over Laurel on Friday night. Neshoba Central will face West Jones at 5:30 p.m., with the winners squaring off at 5 p.m. Friday for the state title.
Class 3A
Noxubee County 64, Kossuth 56: Sophomore guard Tootie Lockett scored 24 points as the Tigers dispatched the Aggies in the quarterfinals on Friday night in Macon.
Senior Carenciuna Owens scored 14 points, while junior Jakeia Walker added 10 for Noxubee County, which has won seven of its past eight games.
The Tigers (18-11) advance to face Union (21-2), a 48-42 winner over Jefferson Davis County on Friday night, in the Class 3A semifinals at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.
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