By Robert Wilson
Raymond lost all five starters to graduation and didn’t have a returning player who averaged more than one point per game from last year’s state championship team.
It appeared at the start of the season that Raymond’s consecutive streak of reaching the state championship game would end at eight years.
But Raymond coach Tony Tadlock and his Rangers believed they could get back, gradually improved and not only reached the state championship game for the ninth consecutive year but won the state title for the second year in a row and fifth time in eight seasons.
Raymond went on a 7-2 run in the final one minute, 25 seconds for a 48-43 victory over Morton Saturday afternoon for its second straight MHSAA Class 4A state championship at the Mississippi Coliseum.
Raymond finished with a 26-8 record, with seven of those losses to teams in bigger classes than the Rangers, including Class 7A state runner-up Madison Central and Class 6A state champion Ridgeland. Raymond’s only 4A loss was to Lanier, and the Rangers won the final two meetings of the season. Raymond finished on a seven-game winning streak.
Tadlock – last year’s PriorityOne Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Coach of the Year after leading Raymond to a 31-4 record and another state title – now has a 218-49 record (an 81.6 winning percentage) in his eight years at Raymond with five state titles and three runner-up finishes. He also was an assistant coach on Meridian’s state championship team before he came to Raymond.
This state championship was special after losing all those starters, including 6-foot-9 senior forward and Mississippi State signee Eric Paymon, the No. 1 rated player in the Class of 2024 in Mississippi by ESPN, and the Mississippi Association of Coaches MHSAA Class 4A Mr. Basketball.
“It was an unbelievable finish for an outstanding team,” said Tadlock, a Pearl High and Southern Miss graduate. “No one thought we would be back after the group we lost last year. These guys rolled up their sleeves and went to work. This group did it by committee. There was no selfishness. Everyone played their roles so well this year. These guys deserve to be state champions.”
Tadlock can thank two big buckets in the final minute to win the championship. Senior guard Wal’derius Frazier connected on a 3-pointer for a 44-41 lead with a minute to play and senior forward Jadyn Garrett made a driving layup for a 46-41 lead with 31 seconds to play to help Raymond break away for a 41-41 tie.
Garrett led Raymond with 13 points.
In addition to losing all five starters and eight seniors, Tadlock’s leading scorer for the first part of this season – senior guard Brandon Jones – suffered a season-ending knee injury in December.
Garrett, senior guard Willie Myles, senior guard Brandon Walker, senior guard Tre’Shon Neal, and senior forward Kaleb Williams were the starters after Jones’ injury. Junior guard Keyonn Downs and Frazier were the top two players off the bench.
“It is very unique to have a team that didn’t have a kid average a free throw a game last year to buy into our culture and trust the process and make a run that we made after Christmas,” said Tadlock on his post-game interview with Jake Wimberly on the NFHS network on MEtv. “I don’t like to call favorites when it comes to state championships, but I would be hard pressed not to have this one as a favorite because nobody gave us a chance. We weren’t in no one’s rankings early in the year. Once thing about us down Highway 18 is we put in the work every day. It showed. When things got tough tonight, when Morton made some runs, we were able to counter. Adversity is going to hit. That’s why we try to build character off the floor as well because you’ve got to dig in and not give up. Everybody was focused and locked in and stayed true to our goal.
“I didn’t take to heart my first couple of years at Raymond and I was rushing the process, didn’t appreciate it, and now I am able to sit back and enjoy it. In the huddle with eight minutes left, I told our seniors this is the last eight minutes you are going to play. My first year I wouldn’t have thought about saying that. I want them to enjoy the moment. Win or lose. People dream about getting to the coliseum, much less playing for a state championship so you’ve got to live in the moment. That’s one thing when I read leadership type books, being able to live in that moment and appreciate it is important. We are fortunate to get back here, but you never know if you will get back, you better enjoy it while you are here. Our community is so special. One thing they have done since I have gotten there, they have grabbed onto our basketball program and made us feel so welcome and they do a great job. I tell our kids to represent where you are from and learn to take pride in that. We do that each and every day. I said this in the pregame. We had a lot of people pay $15 to watch you play today and they could be doing anything, so let’s make sure we put a good product on the floor and hopefully when the chips fall, we will be ahead and thank the good Lord we were. Being a state champion is something they can never take from you. My message to the team was we want to get back for the 10thstraight time next year.”
