Senior Night was sweet for the Columbus High School basketball teams as they earned two victories Tuesday night.
The girls dominated West Oktibbeha County High 71-18, while the boys edged the Timberwolves 49-43.
The Lady Falcons improved to 21-2 and will play Grenada in the first round of the Class 6A, Division 2 tournament on Tuesday night.
Columbus coach Yvonne Hairston was pleased with the way her team played.
“That was a really good win,” said Hairston, who was showered with gifts from her team after the game. “With it being Senior Night, our girls were excited. But this is not the last home game, so we won’t shed any tears.”
The Lady Falcons hope to sweep through the district tournament and continue on a quest to earn a state title.
“Anytime you play a district ball game everybody is going to come out to play,” Hairston said. “You can throw the records out of the door. Whoever is the best team on the court Tuesday night is going to win the ball game.”
In the nightcap, Columbus built a 6-3 lead in the first quarter and did its best to find good shots against a tight zone defense.
“That’s something we’ve been working on,” West Oktibbeha coach Danny Crawford said. “It’s about to be postseason and everybody will be scouting us. The press worked well against Columbus the last time we played them.”
That press paid off in the rematch, too, as West Oktibbeha (20-7) battled back and dominated the second quarter, outscoring Columbus 13-7.
Columbus coach Sammy Smith complimented West Oktibbeha’s defense and used halftime to regroup.
“West Oktibbeha did a great job of confusing us during the first half,” Smith said. “We settled in and did the things we were taught to do and made some great plays down the stretch.”
The Falcons (12-11) tightened up on defense and fought back in the third quarter to take a 33-32 lead.
Columbus sophomore point guard CJ Scott led the team in the fourth quarter with athletic moves to the basket and passes to open teammates.
“It was a long game, and the game is going to change,” Scott said. “You’re going to hit runs, so we wanted to keep the game close and play until the end. Keep the game close, listen to coach (Smith), and finish the game off. That’s how you get wins.”
Scott scored six of his eight points in the fourth quarter. Remadus Beasley had seven of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t panic,” Smith said. “At halftime, we made our adjustments. We picked up the pressure a little bit and played better defense. We didn’t make as many mistakes during the second half compared to the first half. Remadus did a great job for us during the second half.”
Columbus will play host to the Class 6A, Division 2 tournament and will face Grenada on Tuesday night.
West Oktibbeha will play New Hope on Friday.
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