The Ethel girls basketball team opened the season with a 49-44 victory over Choctaw County High School last week. “The girls played very hard, especially in the second half,” said Ethel coach Corey Parish. “We made a lot of mistakes and missed a lot of transition layups that were created by our defense, However, those are things we can and will correct as the season moves on, and we never complain about a win or effort, and we were blessed to get both of those.”Dejah Merritt led the Lady Eagles with 22 points. Destiny Felton had seven points, Brooke Mitchell five, Abbie Ellington, Zakiya Dotson and Jasmine Johnson four each and Jaterika Merritt three.Ethel will not be able to play scheduled games with Winona, Sebastopol and Pisgah due to COVID 19 restrictions. “We are in the process of trying to reschedule, but dates are limited,” said Parish, who is also the athletic director.“Not practicing for two weeks will definitely hurt our team conditioning and chemistry considering that we are a team that plays full court defense all night and relies heavily on transition offense that results from our defense. But like everything else in life and 2020, nothing is easy or guaranteed. We will handle each situation that comes our way the best we can with hard work, preparation and a lot of prayer.”The McAdams boys and girls varsity basketball teams will not be able to play scheduled games with Amanda Elzy and Leake County, and will not be able to participate in the Premier Medial Group Shootout at Kosciusko Saturday due to COVID 19. The Amanda Elzy games have been rescheduled for December 15. Athletic director Kenyon Ross said an attempt will be made to reschedule the Leake County games. The next scheduled games that can be played are December 1 at Amanda Elzy.McAdams and Ethel will compete in Region 5-1A with Nanih Waiya, West Lowndes, French Camp and Noxapater. West Lowndes is defending champion for both boys and girls.
