The opening round of the 6-1A basketball tournament Monday was the gateway to the 1A playoffs for French Camp boys, McAdams and Ethel girls. But for Ethel boys, it was the end of the season.
There was more than just advancing to the semifinals on the line when the four first round games were played at Ethel's Ira Jones Gymnasium. Teams that won qualified for the state tournament beginning Monday for girls and Tuesday for boys. The higher seed won each game.
The nearly six hours of action began with McAdams girls defeating Noxapater 66-49. That was followed by French Camp boys pulling away in the final two minutes for a 59-51 victory over Noxapater, Ethel girls edging Leake County 30-27 and Sebastopol boys defeating Ethel 48-33.
Each game had key moments.
For McAdams girls, it came early. After the Lady Bulldogs fell behind 7-2, they took command with a 13-0 run. It was 35-21 at the half and Noxapater never got any closer in the second half.
Ameri Gadson spent much of the second half on the bench for McAdams with foul trouble, but still had a game-high 19 points, 13 in the second quarter.
French Camp boys appeared to be heading for an easy victory, leading 44-31 through three quarters. But K.D. Carter started a Noxapater rally with a 3-pointer at the outset of the final period. Two late free throws by Carter cut the Panther lead to 49-47.
The game's key moment came at the two-minute mark when Cody Perry hit a 3-pointer from the corner for French Camp to stretch the led to five, and the Panthers were able to pull away in the final minute on baskets by Ethan Wright, Silas Hodge and Nick Winters. Wright finished with a team-high 15 points.
Ethel girls went cold in the second half. The Lady Tigers made only three field goals and were 3 of 14 from the line. But the nine points were enough for a 30-27 victory, thanks to Zantavia Clark. She provided the key moment when she broke a 27-27 tie with a free throw with 44.9 seconds left and added a driving layup for the final margin.
Clark scored 15 points, half of her team's total.
The key for Sebastopol boys was the final six minutes of the first half when the Bobcats stretched a 13-11 lead to 32-19 at the break. Ethel never got closer than 11 in the second half.
The top two boys’ and girls’ seeds received byes and automatically qualified for the state tournament. That was McAdams and Leake County for the boys, Sebastopol and French Camp for the girls.
Semifinals were played Tuesday. Championship and third place games will be Friday. Besides bragging rights, the games will determine seeding for the state tournament.
The opposition for opening round games will come from 5-1A, teams from the Delta. The 6-1A champion and runner-up will begin with home games against the third and fourth place 5-1A teams.
