A loss to Louisville 54-35 and a win over Northeast Lauderdale 56-41 last week left Kosciusko girls basketball in third place in Region 4-4A with a 4-4 record. The four losses have come against the region's top two teams, Louisville and Choctaw Central, all by double digits.
With the region tournament next week at Choctaw Central, what will it take for the Lady Whippets to close the gap on Louisville and Choctaw Central?
“We have to cut down on turnovers,” said coach Cory Guyton. “We play in spurts. In some games we play well in the first half, but not in the second half or vice versa. If we play a compete game, all 32 minutes, I think we will be extremely competitive.”
Down two starters, the Lady Whippets trailed Northeast 28-26 at the half before pulling away with a strong second half. “It takes a little time for us when we don't have our normal lineup,” Guyton said.
Haley Olive was lost for the season with a knee injury and Naja Mays missed the game with the flu.
D'naylah Williams had 26 points and six rebounds, Jamiya Gray 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals.
Williams had 22 points and eight rebounds against Louisville, but nobody else had more than four points. “We have to get a couple of our younger players to be more productive,” Guyton said.
One of those younger players is sophomore Diamond Kern who has replaced Olive in the starting lineup. “She's inexperienced but she is learning as she goes,” Guyton said. “She's doing a good job for us.”
The Lady Whippets played West Lauderdale Tuesday and will conclude the regular season with a home game Friday against Leake Central for Senior Night. Win both and Kosciusko will finish third in 4-4A and will play the sixth place team in the opening round of the region tournament, needing a victory to qualify for the payoffs.
Louisville and Choctaw Central will receive opening round byes.
Boys
Missed free throws plagued Kosciusko in 10-point losses to Louisville 59-49 and Northeast Lauderdale 54-44. The Whippets missed 11 free throws against Louisville and 12 in the Northeast game.
“If we capitalize on those free throws we would have been right in the ball games,” coach Eleazarus Greenleaf said.
Jaybre Pierce had 22 point, five rebounds and four steals in the Louisville game, Andrew Mancell 10 points, eight rebounds and one block. Against Northeast Lauderdale, Mancell had nine points, eight rebounds and two steals, Ryan Tillman eight points and three rebounds and Pierce seven points and two assists.
“We're starting to not turn the ball over as much. We're getting better in that area,” Greenleaf said.
Kosciusko is assured of finishing sixth in 4-4A and will play the third place team in the opening round of the tournament.
