After starting the season with two straight losses, Central Holmes girls basketball coach Niki Edwards did not know how the season was going to go.
Edwards certainly could not have envisioned what has taken place this season.
The Lady Trojans ran their win streak to 22 straight games as they won all three games in the North AA state tournament, beating Manchester Academy 56-49 to take the tournament title.
Edwards said it was the first time since 1995 that Central Holmes had won a North State title.
“We had a really good week,” Edwards said. “We are playing really well right now. It’s really exciting. You want to be playing good at this point of the season. We have not won North state since 1994, so this is big for us. Everybody is really excited. I’m just extremely proud of this team. They have come together and played as a team.”
The Lady Trojans, now 26-3, will now advance to the Class AA State Tournament, which will be held at Benton Academy. They will take on Centreville, the No. 4 seed from the South on Wednesday at 4 p.m. A win on Wednesday would put the Lady Trojans in the semifinals on Friday at 4:15 p.m. against the winner of Brookhaven and Tri-County.
The season came to a close for the Central Holmes boys in the first round of the North AA Tournament with a hard-fought 64-61 win by Greenville St. Joseph.
Noah Burton led Central Holmes with 31 points while Wykece Johnson added 12 points.
Central Holmes Girls 56,
Manchester 49
The Lady Trojans gradually pulled away in the second half as they took the North AAA title with a seven-point win.
The first half was tight as Central Holmes led 17-14 at the end of the first but Manchester outscored the Lady Trojans 20-17 in the second to tie the game at 24-24 at the half.
“It was a tight game, especially in the first half,” Edwards said. “We both got into foul trouble. The difference was they made a lot of their free throws and we didn’t. We didn’t make 50 percent, which is unusual.
“But we came out and played a lot better in the second half. We had a good half shooting. It wasn’t just one player either. We had some players come off the bench and hit some big shots for us.”
The Lady Trojans started to pull away in the second half as they outscored the Lady Mavericks 12-7 in the third and 10-8 in the fourth.
Mckaylee Polk led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points. Breann Bell had 12 points while Cameron Martin had 10 points and Laura Kathryn Rutledge added nine points.
Central Holmes girls 66,
Greenville Christian 36
The Lady Trojans outscored the Lady Saints in every period as they beat Greenville Christian by 30 in the North AA semifinals.
The Lady Trojans jumped out to a 15-9 lead in the first period and led 33-20 at the half. The Lady Trojans continued to extend that lead in the second half as they outscored Greenville 14-11 in the third and 19-5 in the fourth.
Breann Bell led the Lady Trojans with 20 points while Cameron Martin added 13 points.
Central Holmes girls 49,
Benton 24
The Lady Trojans dominated from the outset and took a 25-point win over the Lady Raiders to open up the North AA Tournament.
The Lady Trojans jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the first period and outscored Benton 13-9 in the second to lead 29-9 at the half. After Benton took the third period 7-6, Central Holmes finished off the game by outscoring the Lady Raiders 14-8 to take the win.
Breann Bell led the Lady Trojans with 17 points while Cameron Martin added 13 points.
