By Robert Wilson
Parklane Academy junior guard Zoe Alford – who was as hot as a firecracker and scored 25 points in Tuesday’s semifinals in one of the most impressive Overall Tournament performances in recent memory – had gone stone cold, along with her teammates in Wednesday’s championship game against Madison-Ridgeland Academy.
Nothing was falling, not Alford’s 3-pointers, not Carlyle Carruth’s mid-range jumpers. Nothing.
Parklane missed its first seven shots from the field, didn’t make a field goal for the first seven minutes and missed 16 of its first 17 shots from the field.
Said Alford: “Our shots weren’t falling, but we knew at some point they were going to. We kept fighting even though we were trailing behind most of the game. We made some adjustments and got the momentum back.”
That’s an understatement.
Parklane stormed back from an 11-point deficit early in fourth quarter and Alford and her teammates rallied for a 45-42 victory over MRA before an estimated 1,200 at Mississippi College’s A.E. Wood Coliseum in Clinton.
Class 5A runner-up Parklane finished 29-5, won 16 of its last 17 games and won its second Overall girls title in school history and first since 1993. The Lady Pioneers had lost to MRA 61-44 Nov. 18 at MRA in Madison.
Parklane won three games in three days, something never done before in an Overall tournament. The format was changed due to a conflict with other events at MC’s coliseum, forcing the MAIS to play the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals on consecutive days.
Parklane defeated Lamar Christian 43-23 in Monday’s quarterfinals and defeated Class 6A champion Jackson Prep 58-54 in Tuesday’s semifinals.
MRA, the third-place team from Class 6A, finished 31-8 and played in its third consecutive Overall championship game. The Lady Patriots defeated Presbyterian Christian School two years ago and lost to East Rankin Academy last season.
Arnold finished with 21 points, including 9 of 11 from the free throw line, and Carlyle with 15 points.
Parklane scored 24 points and outscored MRA by 14 points after scoring only 21 points in the first three quarters.
Parklane made 5 of 7 shots from the field and 12 of 13 shots from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
Alford and Carruth combined for 21 points in the fourth quarter. Alford hit a 17-footer, made a reverse layup and a 3-pointer to give Parklane a 39-38 lead with 2 minutes, 40 seconds to play, its first lead of the game. Then she made two more free throws for a 41-38 lead. Carruth and Alford made two more free throws each to clinch the win.
“We said at halftime (MRA led 18-10) that we were just going to keep fighting and we did,” Alford said. “This win feels so earned because we have worked so hard to get there. No one ever thought that Parklane girls would be in the Overall championship, much less winning it. But here we are. This feeling is even more amazing because it is with my best friends and people I love most.”
“We just had faith in ourselves and our hard work and at the end we relied on our game,” said Carruth, one of the top players in the South in the Class of 2028 and the niece of former Parklane, University of Alabama and Green Bay Packers running back Paul Ott Carruth. “Most importantly, we had faith in God because He’s who got us here.”
Carruth and junior forward and Southern Miss softball commitment Anna Sawyer, who had a game-high 11 rebounds, have mothers who played on the 1993 Overall championship team. Carruth’s mother is Missy Brewer Carruth and Sawyer’s is Kim Weaver Sawyer. There were also other players on the 1993 team who were at the championship game.
Junior forward Annie Toler led MRA with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Parklane’s win denied MRA coach Stephen Force of his fourth Overall title, which would have tied him with Pillow Academy’s Durwin Carpenter – the second winningest girls basketball coach in Mississippi history – as the leader among active coaches with four Overall girls titles. Only Jackson Academy’s Jan Sojourner, who retired this season with a record six, and Leake Academy’s Doyle Wolverton – the winningest girls coach in Mississippi history with five have more.
Force was coaching in his seventh Overall championship game.
“We were the more aggressive team for three quarters and Parklane was for the fourth quarter, and the most aggressive team won,” said Force, who has won 777 games, 637 at MRA and three Overall titles, three Overall runners-up finishes and three state championships in his 29-year coaching career. “We started out great, guarding really well and Parklane was missing shots. We had some good looks at the basket and were aggressive. Parklane started pressing us in the second half and we couldn’t make the adjustments and couldn’t handle it. We turned it over and then we couldn’t guard any more. Parklane was getting loose balls and rebounding instead of us, and they made some big shots when they needed it. We weren’t able to finish them off. Parklane is a great ballclub. A part of winning Overall is whoever gets hot and they certainly got hot for the past several weeks. They played great and Coach Rutland did a great job. They have great shooters, great ballhandlers and are well coached. They can mess you up a little bit with their defense.
“I told my three seniors who had been on the team for three years that they had done something not many girls had done under the age of 60. I know Prep won four straight Overalls and Pillow won three straight in the 1970s, but I don’t know how many other teams since then had been to three straight Overall championship games. They also were a part of three 30-win seasons, that’s something to be proud of. They will remember that forever. I appreciate what they have done for MRA basketball.”
