The season ended for the McAdams girls basketball team with a 53-52 loss to Sebastopol in the opening round of the MHSAA playoffs on Monday and for the boys team in a 68-62 loss to Nanih Waiya at the Region 5-1A tournament.
The Lady Bulldogs led Sebastopol by as many as 10 points, but free throw shooting enabled the Lady Bobcats to rally, winning the game on a free throw by freshman Alana Gunn with two seconds left. Kiara Brown scored 22 points and Haley Perteet 18 for McAdams.
McAdams suffered a disappointing 39-32 loss to Ethel in the semifinals of the region tournament that cost the Lady Bulldogs a home game to start the playoffs, but rebounded with a 58-51 victory over French Camp in the consolation game.
McAdams defeated Ethel twice during the regular season, including 45-34 victory in the final game. But it was a different story in the tournament, and Coach Michael Huffman said overconfidence might have been a factor.
“We didn't have any energy in the game, which was disappointing,” he said. “The biggest thing was that we made too many mistakes.”
There was an encouraging start, with McAdams taking a 5-0 lead on a basket by Wel'Asia Roby and a three-point shot by Brown. The Lady Bulldogs led 8-6 after one quarter, but trailed 14-12 at the half following a cold shooting second period. Ethel was up by as much as 10 points in the third quarter, and led 30-22 early in the final period.
McAdams battled back, cutting the deficit to 34-32 with a minute left on another three-pointer by Brown, who scored all 10 Lady Bulldog points during the final quarter. Freshman Brooke Mitchell made a free throw with 44 seconds left to give Ethel a three-point lead and Takie Miller iced the win with two late baskets.
Brown finished with 15 points.
The French Camp game was a seesaw affair, After leading 33-26 at the half, McAdams found itself trailing 40-36 late in the third quarter. That's when Huffman went to a pressure defense. “The energy picked up,” he said. “We got a couple of turnovers and we clamped down on the defensive end in the third quarter. That made the difference.”
Brown again led the Lady Bulldogs with 20 points, but she got a lot more help from her teammates. Shatikka Greer had nine points, Makeria Griffin and Moleyia Harmon six each and Perteet five.
Jordan Carter had 20 points and 13 rebounds for French Camp.
McAdams finished second in the region during the regular season with an 8-2 record, both losses against unbeaten West Lowndes. But the loss to Ethel, followed by the victory over French Camp, meant a third place finish in the tournament and a road game in the playoffs against Sebastopol.
Ethel lost the tournament final to West Lowndes 57-37, but the win over McAdams earned the Lady Tigers a home playoff game with Mount Olive.
The Bulldogs were seeded fourth at the region tournament hosted by McAdams, but lost to Nanih Waiya, the fifth seed, after beating the Warriors twice during the regular season.
