When basketball practice started six months ago, the Yazoo City Indians unpacked their new workout shirts to find something unusual on the back.
While it is customary for shirts to have numbers on the back, the Indians were naturally confused to find that each shirt had the number 27 on the back.
When the team asked YHS Head Coach Anthony Carlyle, his explanation gave them all the motivation they needed for the upcoming season.
You see, the last time Yazoo City won a state championship in boys’ basketball was 1996 – 27 years ago (in a 70-69 win over Canton). And the last time they played for the title was 25 years ago in 1998 (a 52-45 loss to Stone County).
Fast forward two plus decades and the Indians are on the cusp of that long awaited second title after defeating South Pike 46-35 in the Class 4A semifinals Monday night.
The win sets up a clash with the defending champion Raymond Rangers Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the Mississippi Coliseum.
“It feels good to be able to get over the hump. We felt like the last couple of years we had a chance to compete but it just seemed like every year something went wrong at the wrong time to kind of derail us,” said Carlyle. “But this year it seemed like everything just kind of came together and stayed together. We haven’t had any issues or anything to derail us so it’s just finally getting over that hump. The players and fans getting a chance to experience this and come together is like a dream come true.”
Yazoo City opened things up against South Pike with an 11-7 first quarter. They took the lead early in the game on a Jermon Baymon layup with fifty seconds left in the opening quarter and never trailed again. South Pike outscored Yazoo City 7-6 in the second period but still trailed 17-14 at the intermission.
The Indians continued to keep South Pike at bay with a 12-8 third quarter and thanks to 11 fourth quarter points from junior guard Damarion Winston, Yazoo City posted a 17-13 final frame to seal the deal and send them to the finals.
Both Winston and fellow junior sharpshooter Tamarion Hoover fueled the Indians to the win with 17 and 14 points respectively. Hoover also registered a double-double, grabbing 11 rebounds. Baymon added to the scoring output with six points, four rebounds and two blocks. Senior Will Grayson added four points, five rebounds and four assists, Daveon Henry had three points and Dalon Henry had two.
Yazoo City (29-5) and Raymond (27-6) have been on a collision course all season as both teams have staked legitimate claims as the best team in 4A. The Indians are riding an 18-game win streak while the Rangers, who will be playing in their 7th consecutive state championship game (winning four of the last six) boast a 17-game win streak themselves.
The smaller and quicker Indians are going to have to find an answer for the Rangers, who boast a frontcourt averaging 6’6 in height and led by Class 3A Player of the Year Eric Paymon. Conversely, the Rangers will have to devise a strategy to slow down the three-headed monster of Grayson, Hoover and Winston in what should be a game for the ages.
“I think it’s going to be a great game,” said Carlyle. “They’ve kind of dominated 4A for the last five or six years so probably over these next 48 hours [I] probably won’t get any sleep, just watching film and trying to find any little thing that may give us an advantage.”
