Harrison Central, St. Martin girls must take care of business if Coast squads are to meet in 6A final four

A year ago Harrison Central's girls clipped St. Martin with the Yellow Jackets' first trip to Jackson on the line.

The two Class 6A powers on the Coast could once again collide this year, but they'll have to win their quarterfinal matchups Saturday first.

The Red Rebelettes (20-9) will play Callaway (21-9) at 4 p.m. at Jackson State. St. Martin (27-2) will mark its first trip to Jackson during the modern era with a matchup against Columbus (16-6) at 7 p.m. at JSU.

Red Reblettes

The Lady Chargers had to eliminate Warren Central, 53-43, and Horn Lake, 55-50, to get to Saturday's showdown with Nancy Ladner's bunch. Six-foot-2 forward Twila Hill, a Prarie View A&M signee, is who makes Callaway go.

Ladner joked she doesn't have anyone 6-foot-2, even if she stacks two girls on top of one another.

What the Red Rebelettes lack in size, they make up for in athleticism.

"We have to go with what we have all year, use our quickness and try to trap," said Ladner, whose team rallied late to edge Terry 55-54. "Since we don't have the height we have to try to push the ball up the court in transition."

Ladner said boxing out inside will be key if her team is to advance to the Class 6A final four.

"If we can do that, defense turns into offense," she said. "We work more on defense because we truly believe it'll turn into offense."

Lady Yellow Jackets

There's been a lot of excitement surrounding St. Martin's march to Jackson.

Perhaps the best example came earlier in the week when coach Gina Bell was standout outside the school's gym.

"I had three buses roll by, honking, offering congratulations," she said. "It's fun. The whole community and school is excited. Everyone at St. Martin is excited for us."

St. Martin knocked off Oak Grove 56-43 to advance in the playoffs, while Columbus beat Greenville 43-34.

After having scouted Columbus, Bell said her opponent features a handful of tall guards. Where she thinks they have an edge is inside where 6-foot-4 sophomore Daphane White dominates the opposition.

"She's a game changer," Bell said of White, who had 10 blocks against Oak Grove. "(Columbus) got most of their points against Greenville in the paint. You can't do that against 6-foot-4 and long -- and she's long.

"I don't think anybody else has what we have in Daphane."

White's defense is ahead of her offense at this point in her in her young career, but she can still score with regularity. White is averaging 11.8 points per game with 13.6 rebounds and 8.6 blocks.

If Columbus tries to collapse on White inside, St. Martin has a handful of other players who can step up.

South Alabama signee Savannah Jones is one of the top players in the state, averaging 23.1 points per game with 10.2 rebounds. Fellow senior Deona Morgan is scoring at a 11.7 clip.

"We've got all of our bases covered," Bell said. "I can tell (Jones) is having fun this year -- and when she's on, there's no stopping her."

St. Martin has steam rolled much of its competition this season, but Bell said she feels her team understands what's at stake and isn't taking Saturday's game lightly.

"They know we still have to work hard in practice, but they understand the magnitude of this game," she said. "They can't go out there and not play hard and expect to win. If they play up to their potential, we have a good shot at advancing."

Final four

The winner of St. Martin and Harrison Central's games will meet at noon Wednesday at the Mississippi Coliseum.

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 3:44 PM with the headline "Harrison Central, St. Martin girls must take care of business if Coast squads are to meet in 6A final four ."