Holmes County Central tops West Harrison, hobbled Williams for 5A title
JACKSON -- A hot-shooting Holmes County Central girls squad stopped West Harrison short of its state title dream.
With West Harrison star Ameshya Williams hobbled with an ankle injury in the second quarter, HCC topped the Lady Hurricanes 58-43 Friday night at the Mississippi Coliseum in the Class 5A state title game.
Holmes County Central, which is in just its second year of existence, claimed its first state title and finished the season with a 30-1 mark.
West Harrison, which finishes 25-3, was in search of the first team state championship in school history.
"The girls kept fighting, but we couldn't get shots to fall," West Harrison coach Otis Gates said. "That happens sometimes. Things don't bounce your way sometimes even when you play as hard as you can."
The 6-foot-3 Williams, a Mississippi State commit, appeared on her way to another huge game, but she suffered an ankle injury during a hard foul late in the second quarter and was limited the rest of the way.
Williams received a pass and was running down the court on a fastbreak at the moment when she was fouled.
She jumped to go in for layup, but HCC's Alexis Stewart raced in from behind to hit Williams hard on the way up to the basket with 1:37 left in the first half.
Williams landed on her right leg awkwardly and was clearly in pain. The senior stayed on the court to take the free throws, but left soon after and was on the bench at the end of the first half.
Williams played the majority of the second half, but had a hard time making it up and down the court.
She finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds after recording 14 points in the first half.
"She rolled her ankle when the girl came down on back of her," Gates said. "It's going to be sore, but she showed how tough she is tonight. She showed some physical toughness. She stayed on the court. She didn't come out."
With Williams limited, West Harrison had little chance of rallying after falling behind 30-21 at halftime.
Williams tested out the ankle before the start of the second half with some jogging and it was obvious she wouldn't be 100 percent the rest of the way.
"I told her that she's got a career that's more important than me winning a Gold Ball," Gates said. "She said, 'No coach, I want to stay in.' That speaks volumes about her."
Holmes County Central started out hot from the field, shooting 48 percent from the field and hitting 5-of-5 3-pointers in the first half.
Williams kept the Lady Hurricanes in it early by scoring 10 points in the first quarter to keep the HCC lead to 13-11 headed into the second quarter.
HCC started the second quarter on a 9-2 run and West Harrison never really threatened the rest of the way.
"We didn't hit shots in the first half," Gates said. "They shot the lights out in the first half, but we kept fighting. Every time we'd make a little run they kind of responded. Once you get down, you've got to get stops and score. We scored, but we didn't get stops. They fought hard and did all I could ask of them, but it wasn't the outcome we were looking for."
Nhmia Wilson led HCC with 15 points, Destiny Haymer added 10 points and five rebounds.
Amari Graves, who hit 2-of-4 3-pointers, finished with 12 points and six assists for the Lady Hurricanes.
"I told them they'll all go on to do great things whether in basketball or not in basketball," Gates said of his post-game speech. "They work hard and respond to adversity."
This story was originally published March 11, 2016 at 9:42 PM with the headline "Holmes County Central tops West Harrison, hobbled Williams for 5A title ."