A successful season for Kosciusko girls basketball and the high school careers of six seniors came to an end when the Lady Whippets were defeated by Pontotoc 58-22 in the second round of the 4A playoff.
“They're a really good team. You can't afford to make mistakes against good teams,” said coach Cory Guyton. “We started off slow and never could gain our composure.”
Kosciusko was shut out in the first quarter and tailed 22-0 before Aaliyah Amey made a free throw a minute and a half into the second quarter. Amey and Mariah Wods each scored six points.
Kosciusko was down two starters. Ariel Fleming, last year's leading scorer, did not play after sustaining a leg injury during a Thanksgiving tournament and Bracie Jamison suffered a concussion in practice the day before the game.
“It never helps when you go into a playoff game missing two starters. But we competed and that is all I can ask,” Guyton said.
Pontotoc, the state's top ranked 4A team and number five overall by the website MaxPreps, improved to 29-3.
Kosciusko was runnerup in region 4-4A and defeated Senatobia in the opening round of the playoffs.
“As a team, we started to grow up a lot,” Guyton said. “It was the first time since I have been here that we faced so much adversity and we persevered through it.”
The adversity included injuries and COVID.
The seniors are Jamison, Woods, Fleming, Amey, Jakayla Seawood and Hannah Olive. They have been on the team since they were freshmen in Guyton's first year as coach.
He feels that he will have another good team next next year with experience gained by underclassmen. The team will be led by juniors Jamiya Gray and D'naylah Wlliams, who joined Jamison on the all region team.
Kosciusko will have a summer program in June. “We'll find out what players can play what roles,” Guyton said.
