By Robert Wilson
Lauren Morrow Dixon has been gradually improving the Florence girls basketball program since she took over six years ago.
She led Florence to a MHSAA Class 5A state semifinal finish last season, the best year for Lady Eagle basketball since 2016 and only one game short of reaching the championship game for the third time in school history (Florence won the state championship in 1970).
And Saturday afternoon, Dixon took another big step.
She led Florence to a 52-48 victory over defending MHSAA Class 6A state champion Neshoba Central, ranked No. 1 in Mississippi and No. 90 in the country last season and considered one of the best in Mississippi this season, and broke its 31-game winning streak in the Lady Jags Rumble in the Jungle at Madison Middle School in Madison.
Junior guard Mya Norwood had 18 points and 6-foot-2 senior forward Starr Amos had 15 points to lead Florence, which improved to 2-0.
Neshoba Central had not lost since a 72-63 decision to MHSAA Class 7A Starkville in the third game last year. Neshoba Central started its winning streak with a 71-39 win over Florence. Neshoba Central finished 32-1 last season and was 1-0 this year before Saturday.
“We have been right there with great teams year in and year out, but I believe this is a turning point win for our program,” said Dixon, a former Forest Hill High guard who is in her sixth season at Florence and reached the state 6A quarterfinals as an assistant to Stephanie Murphy with Brandon in 2016. ”Our girls really believe we can compete with the top programs in the state. We have a talented senior led group mixed with an incredibly athletic young group who are bought into each other, the program, and do everything we ask. They trusted our game plan and executed it so well. Neshoba is still the fast paced, high IQ team they’ve always been. We knew we had to handle their pressure and limit our turnovers to make it more of a half-court game so we could feed our bigs. Defensively, we tried to take away their dynamic young guard Kyli Truss with different face guarding looks from our best defender Mya Norwood. I was most proud of my girls effort on the defensive end and their poise in handling the suffocating pressure. We knew we would have to sub far more often than normal to not let the pace of the game wear us out before the fourth. Our coaching staff was phenomenal executing our subbing pattern. It was a total team effort.”
Dixon lost only one starter, point guard Faith Quick, who is now a freshman playing at Delta State and a starter since the eighth grade at Florence, from last year’s 25-8 team that lost to Canton in the state championship game.
The returning starters are Norwood, Amos, 6-foot senior forward Kayleigh Chancellor (daughter of Florence boys basketball coach and former Callaway and Southern Miss star guard Darrin Chancellor). Seniors guard Ariana Barnes and Leasa Amos alternated starting.
Dixon believes a tough schedule helps get her team ready for region play and state playoffs. All eight of her losses last season were to teams in the state tournament, two to Class 6A Neshoba Central and one each to Class 5A Canton Laurel and Pontotoc, Class 4A Morton and Choctaw Central and Class 2A Ingomar.
Florence defeated defending MAIS Class 6A state champion Jackson Prep 46-34 in the Madison Madness Preseason Classic at Madison-Ridgeland Academy Thursday in the season opener.
In addition to the Prep and Neshoba Central games, the Lady Eagles have once again put together a rugged schedule this year.
“I believe our pre-district schedule is one of toughest in the state,” Dixon said. “We are headed to play Daphne (one of the top teams in Alabama) and (MHSAA Class 6A state championship contender) Hancock in the Hancock Thanksgiving Tournament and we are going to play three straight days against the top teams in Arkansas at Christmas. We also play Paul W. Bryant (one of the top teams in Alabama) this coming Saturday (at Steel Dynamics Cavalier Classic in Caledonia). We’ll play (MHSAA Class 7A state title contender) Olive Branch in the Tangle on the Trail (at Pontotoc in early January). We have about half of our schedule filled with the top teams in the state.
“I believe we will get better if we play high level competition often and it will get us ready for playoff basketball. Come February, playing tough opponents early pays off. I like to see a mix of teams. Teams from all over because different areas of the state play so differently. I want to give my kids exposure to all of it. We also play 22 of 28 games on the road this season so we will be battle tested.”
