JACKSON — Yvonne Hairston was ready.
The Columbus High School girls basketball coach knew it was just a matter of time before opposing Laurel made a run in the second half of Tuesday’s MHSAA Class 5A semifinal at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson. The Falcons took a 23-15 lead into halftime, but when Laurel’s India Singleton nailed a midrange jumper 15 seconds into the third quarter, Hairston braced herself.
But the run she had waited for never came.
Instead, Columbus freshman Shania Givens answered with a 3-pointer 40 seconds into the quarter, a critical response from the Falcons.
“That kind of shut them down a little bit, and they kind of dropped their head there, because when they were scoring, we were scoring, too,” Hairston said. “They didn’t get a chance to get that run.”
From there, the rout was on for Columbus. Givens had five more points during a 17-0 Falcons run that stretched more than six minutes, and Columbus had opened up a 40-17 lead.
The Falcons (23-4) rode that momentum to a dominant 57-29 win over Laurel (16-16), earning a spot in Friday’s Class 5A championship game against Brookhaven in Oxford.
“This is wonderful,” said Hairston, who has never seen her team make the final four in more than 10 years coaching Columbus. “It’s just wonderful. It seems so surreal to me. We weren’t nervous; we were totally relaxed once we got out on the floor. I guess since we’re so young, that took a lot of pressure off of us, because we had no expectations: just get out there and play hard.”
Senior Aniya Saddler had 18 points, six rebounds and six steals to pace Columbus once again.
“I have to go out with a bang,” the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College commit said. “I can’t let them down. I’ve gotta go all the way.”
Saddler hit the game-winner with 1.2 seconds to go in Columbus’ 39-37 victory over Lafayette in Friday’s quarterfinal, the Falcons’ second straight playoff win by less than five points.
“We were due for a good game, and when we needed a good game, we got one,” Hairston said.
Columbus’ younger players stepped up, too. With the absence of sophomore Mashanti Saddler, a steady bench presence who left with an injury against Lafayette and sat on the bench using crutches on Tuesday, junior DJ Jackson continued to contribute with 10 points, and Givens impressed with 15.
“We’d been waiting on Shania to play big,” Hairston said. “She’s a really good player, but I think she gets a little nervous sometimes.”
Those nerves weren’t there Tuesday for Givens, though. The freshman guard told Hairston before taking the floor that she was going to play well, and she delivered, following her coach’s advice and finding holes in the Golden Tornadoes’ defense.
“She always tells me to get in the gaps,” Givens said of Hairston.
The freshman said she expected a closer game, and for one quarter, the contest seemed poised to deliver. Though Columbus jumped out to a 12-3 lead late in the first quarter on an Aniya Saddler jumper, Laurel roared back on three 3-pointers thanks to some missed defensive assignments by the Falcons.
By the start of the second quarter, though, Columbus’ defense tightened up. The Falcons allowed just three points in the second on a free throw and a layup.
“We were like, ‘We can’t let that happen anymore,'” Aniya Saddler said. “We can’t let them shoot the ball anymore, because we refuse to let them catch back up.'”
Columbus didn’t, taking an eight-point lead into the half and pulling away in the third quarter. After Givens followed her 3 with a layup, Makayla Rieves made two free throws, Saddler split a pair at the line, and Givens hit a short jumper.
Saddler followed with a runner, Sercora Tate and Jackson finished layups, and Givens made the first of two free throws before Laurel’s Manaca Keyes finally put an end to the run.
But Columbus held a 42-21 lead after the third quarter, and the Falcons felt comfortable enough to empty its bench. Kalisha McBride entered the game first, shortly followed by Chrislynn Miller, China Stewart and Fredija Clark. McBride, surprised by the opportunity to take the court, quickly tried to tuck in her jersey before Singleton brought the ball up the court for Laurel.
“I never thought we would be like this,” Hairston said. “Any time you’re this far and into the tournament and able to play your bench, that says a lot about my girls and how they were focused on what we needed to do out there.”
None of the four scored, but each enjoyed the final moments of the Falcons’ emphatic victory. Columbus will face Brookhaven at 5 p.m. Friday in Oxford for the state title, riding the high of a blowout that the team never expected.
“We didn’t think we were gonna win like this,” Hairston said.
Other scores
Class 2A girls: Coahoma County 55, Bay Springs 37
Class 2A girls: Calhoun City 73, Puckett 55
Class 2A boys: Coahoma County 44, North Forrest 31
Class 2A boys: Potts Camp 73, Philadelphia 53
Class 5A girls: Brookhaven 56, Vicksburg 46
Class 5A boys: Center Hill 57, Forest Hill 40
Class 5A boys: Callaway 59, Wingfield 42
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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