Takeea Bozeman and her mother, Earnestine, were caught up in a bit of a rivalry.
Takeea is the girls basketball coach at West Lowndes High School, where she teaches seventh- and eighth-grade math. Earnestine taught math, too — at crosstown foe Columbus High School.
The rivalry was good-natured, Takeea Bozeman said, and her mother helped her in numerous ways as she coached.
“I couldn’t do a lot of the things that I did with the team if I didn’t have her support,” Bozeman said.
Earnestine died on Oct. 17 at age 72, leaving her daughter with a heavy heart and a greater purpose behind her fourth year coaching the Panthers.
“I’m really dedicating this season to her,” Bozeman said. “I want them to do good for myself but also because it would be real good to have.”
And even after last year’s losing season and first-round playoff exits, Bozeman has high hopes for an experienced team.
“I expect us to go all the way this year,” she said.
Behind senior Marvaysha Seals, the Panthers seem improved on offense and defense if their opening game against Amanda Elzy is anything to go off. Seals had 19 points and junior Tydajasha Hood had 11 in the 66-33 victory last Saturday in the Premier Medical Group Shootout in Kosciusko.
“They played really good defense, and they worked together on offense, which made a big difference,” Bozeman said.
The game is the Panthers’ only test thus far — they play Noxubee County on Saturday — but they aced it, and that’s got them feeling good.
“As of right now, I think our season’s going great,” said Seals, a dynamic 5-foot-5 combo guard. “We just have to execute more on offense and play better D.”
That defensive improvement has been the Panthers’ main focus during their early-season practices. Hood said the team switches up its style, playing both man and zone. She’s seen positive change so far.
“I think we got better at defense because everybody knows where they’re supposed to be now and knows where to go,” Hood said.
A veteran roster that Bozeman has been able to shape from the beginning of her tenure has helped the Panthers improve. The team has four seniors: Seals, guard Takara Givens and centers Lauren Bell and Ashanti Williams.
“I don’t have to keep telling them the same thing over and over again because we’ve been together for four years,” Bozeman said.
That includes Hood, whom Bozeman coached on the eighth-grade team her first season. For the junior guard, Bozeman has improved her passing, dribbling and court vision.
“She’s taught me a lot,” Hood said. “She pushes me to do better.”
There were some changes, Seals said, when Bozeman first took over.
“We had to learn her coaching style, how she coached and how we could play along with her,” Seals said. “But over the years, we got better. I really like playing for her.”
West Lowndes is fully healthy as it begins the season — a rarity, Bozeman said, given the torn anterior cruciate ligaments and other serious injuries that have plagued her teams in recent years. And if that good luck can hold up, the Panthers’ potential, she said, is unlimited.
“As long as we remain healthy, I see us going all the way,” Bozeman said. “I really see big things coming out of them this year.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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