WEST POINT — For the better part of two seasons, junior guard Quiyon Bailey has meant everything to West Point High School girls basketball team.
West Point coach Dashmond Daniel admits the Lady Green Wave have relied on Bailey a little too much.
“Last year, it seemed like the rest of our team would be a little timid about it. They’d get her the ball and just try to get out of the way,” Daniel said. “She’s still a great player, but the rest of our girls have realized this is a team effort, and it has made us a better basketball team.”
This season, West Point has improved because Bailey has plenty of help. That depth was on display Tuesday night in the first round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A, Region 1 tournament, as No. 2 seed West Point had three players score in double digits and all five starters score at least eight points in a 60-38 rout of No. 3 seed Saltillo.
Bailey, West Point’s leading scorer at a little more than 25 points per game this season, led the way with 19 points, but she had plenty of assistance in a game that wasn’t close.
“We are just playing as a team,” Bailey said. “All of us are playing hard and sharing the basketball. It feels good.”
For Daniel, West Point’s improvement — the Lady Wave won four games in 2012-13, the year before Daniel arrived — has happened because the players have bought into his lessons.
Last season, the Lady Green Wave won six games. At 15-13 this season, West Point is on the brink of playing for a district championship.
“They are growing up,” said Daniel, who is in his second season as coach at the school. “We are building something here, something special. We have already achieved our goals for the year. Anything after this is just a cherry on top. We won six last year, I told them we had to break into double digits this year. That was a while ago.”
Against Saltillo, West Point used a 21-6 burst in the second quarter to turn a 13-9 lead into a 34-15 advantage, a cushion that wasn’t challenged in the second half.
Bailey had 14 points in the first half. Guard Tatyana Johnson scored 12 in a balanced attack. Robbina Young had 10 points, while Alexis Gates and Tia McCary scored nine and eight, respectively.
Daniel said much of that extra scoring comes from recognizing the pressure Bailey puts on a defense.
“They are going to double her. They have to,” Daniel said. “We know we can’t depend on her for everything, so our young girls are getting there. They are learning how to become better basketball players, and we are getting better as a team every single game.”
Gates, West Point’s second-leading scorer, said the improvement is noticeable.
“It feels good to be getting better and better,” Gates said. “We know (Bailey) gets a lot of attention because she’s a great player. We are able to use that to get a lot of easy shots.”
West Point led by as many as 31 points in the second half. Saltillo outscored West Point 16-10 in the fourth quarter.
West Point will face No. 1 seed Oxford at 6 p.m. Friday. Oxford swept West Point in the regular season.
“It’s just about playing hard, playing together,” Daniel said. “We’ve got the district championship game at home. What more could you ask for?”
Oxford 55, New Hope 31
A year removed from a trip to the Class 5A State tournament in Jackson, the young Lady Trojans continued to fight through a rebuilding season in their Class 5A, Region 1 tournament opener.
“We let their pressure get to us, which is what we’ve done against them this year,” New Hope coach Laura Lee Holman said. “We couldn’t stand their heat. If we had been able to step up and handled that pressure, then we could have made a run. But we couldn’t get that done.”
New Hope, behind five first half points from Lanoria Abrams, trailed 24-14, at halftime. But Oxford forced five turnovers in New Hope’s first six possessions of the second half and opened the third quarter on a 12-2 run to put the game away.
For New Hope (4-21), Alaysha Jennings led the way with eight points. Jada Jamison had six.
Janesha Johnson led Oxford with 12 points. Bre Pettis added 11.
Despite the loss, New Hope still has a chance to reach the Class 5A Playoffs. No. 4 seed New Hope will face No. 3 seed Saltillo at 6 p.m. Thursday at West Point.
“We’ve got to have a short-term memory about this one, put it behind us,” Holman said. “We have one last chance to make something happen. We have to come out playing our hearts out, playing for our lives. Anything less than that is not an option.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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