Horn Lake topples Southaven to win North Half title

from CommercialAppeal.com

The Horn Lake girls basketball team’s first three meetings against Southaven this season ended in defeat.

With a Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A North Half championship at stake Saturday night, the visiting Lady Eagles got their revenge.

Senior Savannah Kimmons scored her club’s first 12 points of the fourth period and finished with a game-high 16 points to help lift Horn Lake to a 49-44 victory, one that gave the Lady Eagles their fourth consecutive North Half title.



Horn Lake, which improved to 26-4, was already assured of advancing to the 6A state tournament with Friday’s four-point win over Columbus.

“We were so consumed with making sure that we got in (Friday) that we really didn’t get to prepare for them (Southaven) in a way that made me feel comfortable prior to the game,” said Lady Eagle coach Janna Lyons, “but these young ladies showed up, they played hard, they made some key steals and I’m extremely proud of them. They could’ve easily rolled over to Southaven seeing that they beat us three times.”

All is not lost for Southaven, which dropped to 29-2. The Lady Chargers are also state-bound since they defeated Murrah on Friday.

“They deserved to win it,” Southaven coach David Baldwin said. “(Lyons) had them better prepared than I did. Apparently we didn’t execute the way we would have liked to. We sort of lost focus.”

Both teams play Feb. 29 at Jackson’s Mississippi Coliseum. Horn Lake faces Forest Hill at 1 p.m, while Southaven meets Hattiesburg at 6:30 p.m.

As for Saturday, Horn Lake made it happen late with the Kimmons’ hot touch. The Lady Eagles were able to stretch a one-point lead at the outset of the fourth to 44-38 behind back-to-back layups from their center.

“There were a lot of plays that she made look easy,” Lyons said. “Hats off to Savannah. She did an excellent job hitting some key buckets down the stretch for us.”

Said Kimmons: “I guess since we practice so much and we work together, we have that kind of communication. It’s just exciting. We played a great team. We just brought our A-game.”

When the time came for Horn Lake to stand tall from the free-throw line, it was senior Brittani Biggins coming through with four successful makes.

“She was horrendous (Friday),” said Lyons, “but she did say, ’Coach, I want to get in the gym early and knock down some free throws,’ and she did that. She focused in and made them tonight, so that was very big.”

Juniors Aliyah Miller and Jasmine Joyner paced Southaven with 13 and 12 points, respectively. The Lady Chargers led 13-4 after the first period.

“Normally, we don’t start the game like that,” Baldwin said. “The kids played hard. They had a tough time taking a loss. They’re young, they’re going to have to learn from it.”

In MHSAA Class 5A North Half

Oxford girls 51, Center Hill 48: The Lady Chargers (31-0) defended their home court to win a MHSAA Class 5A North Half title.

Jasmine Golden scored 16 points for Center Hill (25-6). Kaelin Kneeland added 11.

“Proud of our kids,” Center Hill coach Jonathan Moore said. “Just came up a few points short. Didn’t have enough offense tonight. There wasn’t anything wrong with the effort, though.”

The Lady Mustangs will play South Jones in Jackson Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m.