The French Camp boys and girls basketball teams began play in the Region 5-1A tournament Tuesday at McAdams.
The Panthers are the third seed in the six-team region and opened against sixth-seed Noxapater. The fourth-seeded Lady Panthers played fifth seeded Nanih Waiya.
Both teams needed a win to advance to the semifinals Thursday and qualify for the 1A playoffs. A victory by the Panthers would put them in a game with second seed Ethel. The Lady Panthers, with a win, would play top seed and unbeaten West Lowndes.
The Panthers finished the regular season last week with a 62-50 loss to McAdams and a 58-55 victory over Nanih Waiya.
French Camp was able to pull within two of McAdams early in the fourth quarter, but never caught up. “We never could get over the hump,” said coach Robert Leathers. “We played selfish. That’s probably the first selfish game we played all year. We didn’t play the kind of basketball that got us through so many games this year,”
Darrion Smith scored 15 points, C.J. Johnson 13 and Zack Williams 11 for the Panthers.
Leathers said there was a players only meeting prior to the Nanih Waiya game, resulting in a fast start. The Panthers led 22-12 after one quarter. “That was probably the best quarter of basketball we played all year,” Leathers said.
Johnson scored 27 points, including 11 straight free throws in the second half. “That was the difference in the game,” Leathers said. Smith added 19 points.
Coleman Mackenzie, who scored four points, received praise from Leathers for his defensive play. “He has come a long way. I’m proud of the way he has grown as a player this year. He does the little stuff for us.”
GIRLS
The Lady Panthers had two close losses, 50-46 against McAdams and 37-35 against Nanih Waiya.
French Camp rallied from a double digit deficit against McAdams, outscoring the Lady Bulldogs 17-10 in the fourth quarter, but never caught up. The final was much closer than an earlier 68-48 loss to McAdams.
Jasmine Bonty had 16 points and 17 rebounds for French Camp and Jordan Carter scored 12 points, Makeria Griffin had a team-high 13 points for McAdams.
The Nanih Waiya game went back and force. French Camp led 14-10 after once quarter, trailed 28-21 at the half, took a 29-28 lead by holding Nanih Waiya scoreless in the third quarter, but was outscored 9-6 in the final period.
“They played really well and we didn’t play well at all,” said coach Polly LeVert. Abby Robertson led French Camp with 12 points. Ambria Tubby had 22 points for Nanih Waiya.
French Camp won the first game between the teams 61-50, making Tuesday’s tournament matchup the rubber game.
