For far too many years, Columbus Christian Academy’s less than stellar girls’ basketball programs have suffered through “the agony of defeat” on a regular basis.
But based on this year’s results, both team-wise and individually, the 2018-19 squad has turned the corner and finally realized “the thrill of victory” so to speak. And, as a result, this year’s team has also set the bar high for future girls’ squads after its record-breaking year.
“Prior to this year, we didn’t win many games,” said girls’ head coach Billy Thomas. “The last three years or so, there were very few high school players to rely on, with mostly 7th and 8th graders rounding out the roster.”
Thomas said coaching a rebuilding high school basketball team is like a two-edged sword.
“Win and you’ll get the players out,” he said. “Lose and you won’t get the players to come out for the team, and if you don’t have the players, you’re not going to win. And when the girls in the stands have more fun than those on the court, you’re not going to win. When the girls on the court have more fun than those in the stands, then you’re going to have a winning team. The key is to get those girls on the court.”
And once Thomas was able to convince potential players to give it a try, the turnaround came about over a very short period of time. The Rams went from a team which had few sure-enough veteran players and one which everybody wanted to play – one opposing coaches commonly referred to as ‘homecoming patsies’ which sometimes resulted in a rout, to a team which, by scheduling choice, often times found itself pitted against much larger area schools such as Columbus, West Lowndes and Caledonia simply for the competition those games provided.
As a result, his team’s more notable accomplishments this past season included winning 20 games (20-13) for the very first time; going undefeated (6-0) in winning the district for the first time; being the first team to reach the MAIS Class A Final Four; and the second team to reach the North State Tournament where the Rams finished third.
Individually, five girls made the All-District team – Celia Peal, Kylee Emerson, Audrey Foreman, Elizabeth Easterling and Taylor Tipton; two were named to the North State tournament team – Peal and Emerson; and one to the All-State tournament team – Emerson.
After many years as the school’s boys’ coach, Thomas is currently in his second year working with the girls’ team, and he threw all the credit for this year’s breakthrough season to his 13-girl squad and its relentless work effort and to his assistant coach Barbara Yeates.
“Our turnaround can be attributed to all the hard work these girls put in during the summer months,” said Thomas. “We played some 40 games last summer and that takes a lot of commitment from the players and the parents. It took a lot of work on everybody’s part.”
Too, the Rams hosted a camp during which his team played four games a day all four days of the camp which attracted over 300 girls from throughout the area. In addition to the Columbus Christian camp, the Rams also traveled to Arkansas and to Tishomingo County for games against teams from Alabama.
Thomas said he schedules teams from higher classifications “to get better and see exactly where we are at.”
This past season, the Rams only lost four games to schools in their own classification — Marvel (Arkansas) in North State and State tournament play, Claiborne (Louisiana) at State and Delta Academy during the regular season.
“All-in-all, these girls worked their tails off,” said Thomas. And because we only lose two seniors to graduation, I feel like we’ll compete for a state title next year.”
Thomas’ quest for a state championship will depend on 11 returning players, as his current roster lists only one junior, seven sophomores and three freshmen — all of whom will move up a grade next fall.
Thomas’ turnaround effort didn’t go unnoticed by his peers, as he was named Girls’ Coach of the Year, as was the Rams’ boys’ coach, Greg Watkins.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.