JACKSON — Facing a Neshoba Central team looking to finish the first undefeated season in Mississippi girls basketball since 2008, the Columbus High School girls didn’t blink. They didn’t back down.
They just didn’t have enough.
Senior Makayla Rieves scored a game-high 22 points, but that was more than the rest of the Falcons’ roster managed in a tough 49-41 loss to the Rockets in the MHSAA Class 5A championship game on Friday at Mississippi Coliseum.
“We came up a little short tonight,” Columbus coach Yvonne Hairston said. “They hit some key baskets in the third and fourth quarter, and we missed some baskets, some layups and stuff like that.”
But an eight-point loss to an undefeated team — the last was Gentry, which went 40-0, won the 4A title and then beat 5A champ Murrah for the MHSAA Grand Slam championship, finishing the season in both the ESPN and USA TODAY national Top 25 — was quickly put into context by the Columbus coach.
“I’m just happy with our team,” Hairston said. “I thought our girls came out and, being such an underdog as we were, to get out there and fight as well as we did … I hate to lose, but it’s a testament to our program. They never give up.
“I am extremely proud of them. They weren’t going to lay down. We knew if Neshoba was going to beat us, they were going to have to come and take it. And they did.”
The third quarter was the biggest problem for the Falcons, as the Rockets (33-0) turned a 21-20 halftime lead into a 40-32 advantage.
Rieves scored six of her points during the fourth quarter, helping the Falcons narrow the gap to 43-40 with 1:43 remaining, but the Rockets intercepted an entry pass on the Falcons’ next trip down the floor. Neshoba Central senior Carly Keats hit four consecutive free throws during the final minute to seal the win.
Keats scored 11 points and was named the player of the game. Hama’ya Fielder led the Rockets with 14 points, and Denise Denson added 11.
“Credit to Neshoba Central; that’s why they’re 33-0,” Hairston said. “We put up a good fight. I think we had a good game plan, but sometimes you have to throw the game plan out the window.”
The Rockets took better care of the ball than some recent Columbus opponents, and Hairston said her team didn’t take advantage of the opportunities they did get.
“We just didn’t capitalize on turnovers,” she said. “They turned the ball over, and we just couldn’t finish at the basket. When you’re playing a good team like that, you just can’t make those kinds of mistakes.”
The first half was neck and neck from start to finish, with neither team leading by more than four during the first 16 minutes. But the Falcons got in early foul trouble; the Rockets were in the bonus before the first quarter ended.
Neshoba Central took 15 free throws during the first half to six for Columbus, none more consequential than two by junior Shaylynn Hunter, who was fouled with three seconds left in the second quarter and hit both free throws for a 21-20 Rockets lead.
They would not trail again.
But neither could they put away the Falcons. That 40-32 lead after three quarters was their biggest until the closing seconds, when the Rockets matched it. Along the way, Columbus made it a four-point game with 2:43 left despite missing back-to-back layups on one possession and throwing away an inbounds pass on another. Whatever adversity there was, the Falcons hung in, finally fading after cutting the lead to 43-40.
“It’s that pride in Lady Falcon basketball, and I know that those girls who are in there with those tears in their eyes, they’re going to come in, probably next week, and be ready to go trying to get back here,” Hairston said. “The journey was great. There’s nothing like playing down here in the Big House. It’s a great experience for everybody. The crowd is great, the media is great, it’s just a great place to be.”
Neither team shot the ball well: Neshoba Central made 16 of 48 from the field and just 4 of 18 from 3-point range. Columbus shot 15 of 47 from the field and 2 of 8 from 3-point range.
So the door was open for the Falcons to end the Rockets’ winning streak, but they just could not string together enough successful possessions to bring home their second title in three years.
“We felt like we were a better team, and we just came up short,” Hairston said.
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