By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – It is awfully tough to beat a team three times in the same season, and the Hattiesburg girls found out just how tough it is.
After beating Wayne County twice in the regular season, the defending state champion Lady Tigers got all they wanted from the Lady War Eagles Monday night at Watkins Gymnasium. But when the going got tough, the stars came out for Hattiesburg.
Junior center Melyia Grayson scored nine points in the fourth quarter, and senior guard Ty Vance kept HHS afloat with three critical 3-pointers as the Lady Tigers defeated Wayne County 45-41 in the quarterfinal round of the Class 5A playoffs.
The win sends Hattiesburg (26-4) to Jackson for the State Tournament for the fifth consecutive season, and the ninth time under veteran head coach Caronica Jackson. HHS will face Olive Branch at 4 p.m. next Tuesday in the state semifinals at Mississippi Coliseum.
“It’s hard to mentally prepare for a team when you’ve beaten them twice by a fairly substantial margin,” said Jackson. “You have to keep stressing that this is the playoffs and they’ve won two playoff games on the road.
“They’re playing much better than when we saw them earlier. You can show it to the kids on film, but in their heads they’re still thinking, ‘oh, we beat them twice.’ They figured it out by halftime, when we were down by one.”
Indeed, Wayne County (13-15) came at the Lady Tigers with an aggressive zone defense that sagged down on Grayson, and a solid inside game on the offensive end, led by senior Aallyah Hill, who had 10 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 16 points.
“We expected it,” said Grayson, who had a triple double, grabbing 12 rebounds and blocking 10 shots to go with her team-high 14 points. “We watched film on them, and we saw what they were doing.
“It was frustrating at first, but I just had to get everything out of my head and play ball.”
Battling two and sometimes three defenders in the low post, Grayson had a tough time getting going, missing her first four shots.
“The thing that’s carried us all season has been our inside game, and none of our post players could get anything going in the first half,” said Jackson. “Fortunately, Ty Vance stepped up and hit a couple of big 3’s early in the game to keep us in the flow.”
Vance got Hattiesburg started by hitting a 3-pointer for the first points of the game, and her second trey put the Lady Tigers up 17-10 early in the second quarter.
“When I took my first shot, I saw they were sagging off of me, so I knew I had to step up and hit some shots,” said Vance. “I knew I was going to have to shoot the ball tonight because they were going to be focused on the post. I just knew I had to knock them down.”
Wayne County upped its game from that point, however, going on a 9-1 run to end the second quarter, taking the lead for the first time on a pair of foul shots by senior Lashania Everett, who had 13 points for the Lady War Eagles.
After taking a 19-18 lead into intermission, Wayne County got layups from Everett and Hill to build a five-point advantage, 23-18.
However, Vance stepped up with her third 3-point shot of the game, and she later put Hattiesburg back in front for good, 28-27, with a fast-break lay-up after a steal.
The Lady Tigers led 30-28 after three quarters, and the fourth quarter proved to be Grayson’s time to step forward. Grayson scored seven straight points for Hattiesburg on layups, including a three-point play early in the period.
Wayne County battled back, cutting Hattiesburg’s seven-point lead to three points on three separate occasions.
But the Lady Tigers kept their poise on defense, as the Lady War Eagles missed seven straight shots before Hill got a putback to cut the HHS lead to 43-41 with 17.0 seconds to play. However, junior Chelsea Ulmer hit both ends of a one-and-one for the final margin.
Vance scored 13 points for Hattiesburg and Ulmer added 11 points.
“I’m so happy to be a senior and leading my team back to Jackson,” said Vance.
Prep Basketball Summary
MHSAA State Tournament
Class 5A quarterfinals
Monday at Watkins Gym
GIRLS
Hattiesburg 45, Wayne County 41
WC 8 11 9 13 – 41
HHS 10 8 12 15 – 45
WAYNE COUNTY (13-15): Knizja Lampley 8, Shakirria Everett 4, Lashania Everett 13, Aallyah Hill 16. TOTALS – FG 16-43 (3FG 0-5), FT 9-13 (41).
HATTIESBURG (26-4): Chelsea Ulmer 11, Ty Vance 13, Jaelah Gray 2, Kenedi Walker 3, Kendyl Terrell 2, Melyia Grayson 14 (12 rebounds, 10 blocks). TOTALS – FG 16-50 (3FG 4-23), FT 9-16 (45).
