It was a good week for the McAdams girls basketball team with victories over Scott Central and West Lowndes and an especially good day for the school Saturday at the Premier Medial Group Shootout at Kosciusko High School with wins by the boys and girls teams against West Lowndes.
The Lady Bulldogs edged Scott Central, a 2A school, 53-49 in overtime and held on for a 42-39 victory over West Lowndes.
“It probably should not have gone into overtime,” Coach Ashley Brown said of the Scott Central game. McAdams had four shots at the basket for the win in the final seconds of regulation but did not connect. Once the game went to the extra period, the Lady Bulldogs scored 14 points.
Brown told her players before the overtime that it was all about heart.
“Who wants to win it the most,” she told them.
McAdams had players in foul trouble, but some of the younger players stepped up. That included sophomore Da'naya Griffin who was given the assignment on Scott Central's Ashanti Murrell in the Bulldogs' Box and One defense.
“She did a great job,” Brown said.
McAdams built up a 16-point lead against West Lowndes and held on for the win against the team that won Region 5-1A last year. The Lady Bulldogs and the Lady Panthers are no longer in the same region.
Shatikka Greer led McAdams in both games. She had 20 points, with six in overtime, against Scott Central, and 17, including three 3-pointers, in the West Lowndes game.
Ten players scored for the Bulldogs against Scott Central, including 11 points by Ameri Gadson and nine by Da'keria Fleming.
Boys
The Bulldogs opened the season with a 69-59 victory over West Lowndes.
“As a whole for the first game I thought everybody played pretty well,” said Coach Kenyon Ross, but added, “I wasn't really impressed with our defense. I thought we played a little lackadaisical. We have to get better.”
McAdams led the whole way.
“They cut it down to six a couple of times because we started doing some crazy things,” Ross said.
That included missed free throws. “We probably left 20 points on the scoreboard.”
Cameron Fleming led the Bulldogs with 21 points. Tyrick Davis had 18, Kendarrius McBeath 12, and Willie Perteet 9.
Ross said the experience from reaching the state 1A semifinals last season was a key in holding on. “They know how to win,” he said.
The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs have road games Thursday with Pisgah, a strong boys 2A team that has started the season with three wins.
Ross schedules a challenging early season schedule against larger schools to prepare his players for Region 6-1A beginning after the first of the year. That was the case a year ago when losses in November and December turned into victories in January and February, culminating with a trip to the Mississippi Coliseum.
“We want to be playing in March,” said Ross.
