‘The most exciting game of my career.’ Harrison Central boys, girls reach Final Four.
The Harrison Central boys and girls basketball teams are each one win away from a trip to the Class 6A state championship.
In the state quarterfinals on Saturday at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, the Red Rebelettes pulled out an exciting 76-73 win over Pearl in double overtime and the boys followed up with a 66-62 victory over Petal.
The Harrison Central girls (27-5) will play Olive Branch (22-6) at 4 p.m. on Wednesday in the 6A semifinals at the Mississippi Coliseum.
The Red Rebels (27-4) will take on Starkville (22-3) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the 6A boys semis in the same arena.
Both teams are aiming to reach the Class 6A title round, which will be held Saturday at The Pavillion on the Ole Miss campus.
Harrison Central girls 76, Pearl 73
Tears of joy streamed down Harrison Central senior De’Asia Booker’s cheeks Saturday night at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
It took regulation and a pair of overtimes, but the Red Rebelettes finally got the revenge they sought for a year after Pearl ended their season prematurely a year ago.
Booker summed up a 76-73 victory over Pearl in the Class 6A quarterfinals with three words — “Grit, attitude, determination.”
Booker played a big role in making sure the Red Rebelettes got to the state semifinals by making all four of her free throw attempts in the final 35 seconds.
“My calf muscles were tight,” the senior point guard said. “I was thinking was, ‘Jesus, let me make a free throw.’”
Booker, who scored 14, also hit a crucial 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in the first overtime to send the game into double overtime at 65-65.
Harrison Central, which lost two starters with five fouls in overtime, somehow managed to close out a Pearl squad that rolled into Saturday with a record of 28-1. Harrison Central faced several critical situations where the game could have easily drifted the other direction.
Longtime Harrison Central coach Nancy Ladner described the contest as “the most exciting of my coaching career.”
Sophomore forward Laila Walker, who stands 6-1, put in a determined effort on the boards, and scored 20 points in the paint.
The Red Rebelettes also got 20 points from Je’Mya Evans.
“We had some young kids step up. I’m so proud,” Harrison Central coach Nancy Ladner said. “We started this morning telling the girls that we want to take it one quarter at a time. That’s what we did. Our starters fouled out, but our subs stepped up big time.”
Harrison Central boys 66, Petal 62
With two of Harrison Central’s better frontcourt players battling foul trouble, the Red Rebels got the production they needed from junior forward Jacobi Moore.
One of the state’s top young football prospects as a 6-foot-2 receiver, Moore scored 14 points in the second half after failing to tally a single point in the first 16 minutes.
Nine of his points came in the fourth quarter as the Red Rebels answered to a 7-0 run by Petal to begin the fourth quarter.
“Jacobi has been big all year long,” Harrison Central coach Boo Hardy said. “He doesn’t get a lot of publicity that the other guys get, but he’s a key part of our basketball team.”
While Moore did the dirty work inside, Cameran Haynes, Demarius Coleman and Mikel King did a good job of controlling possession in the backcourt to close out the contest.
Haynes scored 14 and Coleman and had 13 with each player hitting a pair of 3-pointers.
In a tough battle with Petal big man Caleb McGill, Harrison Central junior forward Carlous Williams also hit double digits with 10 points.
Unlike the overjoyed Red Rebelettes, the boys were mostly subdued after Saturday’s game as they take one more step toward a state title.
“From day one, our goal is to win the last game of 6A basketball,” Hardy said. “We’re trying to keep it humble.”
This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 10:33 PM.
