It had been three years since the Yazoo City Lady Indians advanced out of the district round and into the playoffs and after a resurgent season which saw them win more games than they had in a decade, hopes were high.
Unfortunately for the Lady Indians their playoff run was short-lived as they fell 45-21 to the Mooreville Lady Troopers Monday night.
Yazoo City’s season ends at 12-17.
Mooreville opened the game on a 10-0 run and led 14-2 after one quarter of play. They continued to add to their lead in the second quarter with a 7-4 quarter and led 21-6 at the half.
Said YHS head coach Joffre Washington, “They came out and jumped on us early and it set the tone for the rest of the game. We had prepared for their 1-2-2 halfcourt press and were able to break it a few times, but we just weren’t consistent enough. We didn’t attack the gaps like we should have when they were available and just never could get any momentum going.”
Yazoo City fared a little better in the third period as Mooreville out scored them 13-10, but the senior-led Lady Troopers put their foot back on the gas in the fourth quarter and outscored the Lady Indians 11-5 down the stretch to seal the win.
Zoie Baker and E’kemi Johnson led Yazoo City in scoring with eight points apiece, followed by I’liciona White and Akayla Hudson with two apiece and Jaya Gallion with one.
Added Washington, “While we fell short of our goal of winning a playoff game, we still accomplished several goals we set for ourselves this season. One was to win more games than last season and we did that going away. One was to beat our rival Yazoo County and we swept them. Another goal was to make it out of district and we did that. Most importantly we wanted to prove our doubters wrong and bring some excitement back to Lady Indian basketball and I think we did that. We’ve still got a long way to go but the foundation is set. The girls know what it takes to get to the next level. Now they’ve just got to roll their sleeves up and get to work.”
