JACKSON — Taylor Durham walked out of the Biggersville High School girls basketball team’s locker room tugging at her white, long-sleeve undershirt.
It was only minutes following Biggersville’s 49-28 victory against West Lowndes in the quarterfinals of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1A State tournament, but the senior guard already had done a quick change and replaced her No. 5 and the rest of her basketball uniform for her cheerleader’s clothes.
If Biggersville coach Cliff Little had asked Durham to clean the locker room or load the team’s gear onto the bus, Durham likely would have obliged. After all, her mind-set is to do whatever Little wants and whatever helps her teammates win.
Durham did her job so well Thursday morning that she and the Lady Lions are going to the Big House.
Alexis Shumpert had 15 points and 14 rebounds to lead three players with double-doubles, and Durham did her work on defense against Alexis Neely to help Biggersville (21-8) advance to face the winner of the West Union-Bogue Chitto game at 9 a.m. Monday at Mississippi Coliseum.
“Since I was in the seventh grade, I haven’t been as skilled as everybody else,” Durham said. “But I have just really played my heart out on defense because I am not as skilled as them. That is what I do. I give it my all when I play defense. I fought — we fought together — to get where we are.”
Durham had only four points, but her defense on Neely, who scored 25 points in West Lowndes’ victory in the second round of the tournament, helped end the Lady Panthers’ season at 17-16.
Neely scored seven of West Lowndes’ first 10 points and helped her team build a 12-6 lead after one quarter. Keiara Bridges and Neely had 3-pointers off the glass in the first eight minutes to help West Lowndes start quickly.
But Little switched Durham, who is 5-foot-3, off Shynice Watt after the first quarter and had her shadow Neely. While Neely scored a team-high 14 points, had eight rebounds, eight blocked shots, and two steals, she wasn’t a dominating force down low.
“We had a great effort from Taylor Durham guarding Alexis Neely, who is one of their leaders in scoring,” Little said. “I think she started with seven points when we went with a 2-3 zone early and then we decided to concentrate on her a little bit better.”
Little said Durham has guarded the best player in all of Biggersville’s games this season. He said she is fine taking charges, not scoring, and being a “gritty” player who usually doesn’t get a lot of press.
One play in the third quarter epitomized Durham’s performance. As the Lady Panthers attempted to pass the ball to Neely just inside of halfcourt, Durham snuck in from behind to steal the pass and went in for an uncontested layup.
“That wasn’t planned out, but it worked,” Durham said of the defensive switch. “That’s what I do. I just go wherever he tells me. I don’t put my input in. I just do whatever anybody tells me to do.”
Durham follows the same approach in everything she does, whether it is slow- or fast-pitch softball, track and field (100-meter dash, 4×100 relay, 4×200), cheerleading, or basketball.
With Durham doing her thing on defense, Biggersville attacked, attacked, and attacked on offense. All but six of the Lady Lions’ points came on drives to the basket, in the paint, or from the free-throw line.
Jada Tubbs added 13 points and 18 rebounds, while Tyleshia Davis had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Lions.
“I have seen a lot of games (in the state tournament), and I have seen teams start out real good and settled off and teams start slow (and then speed up),” Little said. “I have seen it both ways, so we were fine. I was real proud of our seniors. I was proud of all of them. They stepped up and executed.”
While Biggersville attacked, West Lowndes struggled shooting from the field after its fast start. Watt, who was saddled with foul trouble before she fouled out, was 2 of 14 from the field and had four points. The Lady Panthers were 11 of 55 from the field (20 percent), including 2 of 21 from 3-point range.
“We knew coming in we had to make shots because they were going to sit over the top of Alexis Neely,” West Lowndes coach Danny Crawford said. “We didn’t make shots. Late in the game, the 94 feet (the length of the court) bothered my girls. We practiced at Humphrey Coliseum and at Tougaloo College, but it is different going up and down that court at 94 feet. We got tired, and Biggersville did an awesome job of penetrating. That is the difference in the game. They penetrated and laid it up and we missed shots.”
Crawford also was proud of his team, which he said earlier in the week probably was a year ahead of schedule. He expects to have sophomores Edmariah Sherrod and Aerial Boswell back next season after losing them to season-ending injuries. Another year in Crawford’s up-tempo, pressing style also figures to help the Lady Panthers’ chances of getting back to Jackson and taking another step.
“I am looking forward to next year when I get my starting point guard and my starting three guard back,” Crawford said. “I feel like if they are here we are still playing. I am just looking forward to them going back (to the state tournament next season).”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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