Harrison Central girls are Jackson bound once again

It's another year and another trip to Jackson for the Harrison Central girls basketball program.

The Red Rebelettes (22-3) survived a late rally for a 45-41 win over Brandon (18-14) Friday night to advance to the Class 6A quarterfinals of the MHSAA state tournament in Jackson.

The victory marks Harrison Central's sixth consecutive trip to the capitol city where it will face Starkville at 8:30 p.m. on March 4. Starkville beat Columbus 55-31 on Friday.

“Every trip is a big deal,” Harrison Central coach Nancy Ladner said. “Being able to get to 'The Big House' is something in itself period. Back in August, that's what we shoot for and what we work for. Getting there, it is a big deal. We're ready to finish.”

Harrison Central, which has 13 state titles total, is looking for its first gold ball since 2005.

“I feel very good about it,” Harrison Central junior guard Chyna Allen said. “I think we can win it this year.”

Allen led Harrison Central with 14 points, including a pair of clutch free throws with 17.7 seconds remaining to help stop the bleeding in the final moments.

The win was far from easy for the Red Rebelettes thanks to Brandon's late surge. Harrison Central appeared to be in full control when it went up 39-25 with 7:41 remaining following a pair of free throws from Yolanda Nelson.

Behind a full-court press on defense, Brandon answered with a 16-3 run.

A basket by Brandon's Shauntelle Adams with 1:36 remaining cut the Harrison Central lead to 42-41 and kept the momentum on the Lady Bulldogs' Bench.

The tension was evident as both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket over the next minute, but Harrison Central got the ball back with 25 seconds remaining. Allen was fouled just past midcourt with 17.7 seconds remaining.

The Red Rebelettes struggled with their free throw shooting for much of the night, but Allen proved clutch at the line.

“I was just hoping to make the free throws so we could win the game,” Allen said.

She hit both of her tries to put the Red Rebelettes up 44-41.

Harrison Central forced a pair of Brandon turnovers to close out the game and Arie'Anna Norwood tacked on one more free throw to close out the contest.

Behind a pair of powerful forwards, Kayla Smith and Alexandria Patton, Brandon caused troubles for Harrison Central early in the game. The Lady Bulldogs led 6-0 at the 5:16 mark of the first quarter and 11-5 to start the second quarter as Smith and Patton combined for nine points in the first 8 minutes.

However, Smith was forced to the bench with some early foul trouble and that allowed Harrison Central to chip away at the lead.

Brandon led 17-16 entering halftime.

“Their two bigs were real tough,” Ladner said. “We had a tough time one-on-one with them. We got to the second half and the key to winning was putting pressure on their guards. We did a really good job of that in the second half.”

Harrison Central outscored Brandon 21-9 in the third quarter.

“We just kept (Brandon's forwards) in foul trouble and kept them from getting the ball,” Allen said.

Smith led Brandon with 13 points and Patton had 12.

This story was originally published February 24, 2017 at 9:45 PM with the headline "Harrison Central girls are Jackson bound once again."