By Robert Wilson

Jeremy Jackson has been known for many years as one of the best pitchers to come through Mississippi State, earning All-SEC honors and helping the Bulldogs to back to back College World Series appearances in 1997 and 1998, and is the son of former West Lauderdale coach Jerry Boatner, the winningest high school baseball coach in Mississippi history and a member of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

These days he is known as Ella’s dad, and is getting a lot of attention about his title, especially last week.

  Ella Jackson, a 5-foot-10 sophomore guard from Hartfield Academy, averaged 19 points and 9.7 rebounds and led the Lady Hawks to two victories in three games last week.

For her outstanding performance, Jackson has been named the Legacy Theater Flowood/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Girls Basketball Player Of the Week.

Jackson had 18 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists in a 70-45 loss to MAIS Class 4A and Overall  Tournament championship contender East Rankin Academy, 22 points, 9 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 blocked shots and 1 assist in a 54-19 victory over Heritage Academy and 17 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 assist and 1 blocked shot over Jackson Academy.

She also had 11 3-pointers last week, four each against East Rankin and JA and three against Heritage.

Jackson is averaging 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2.5 steals this season. 

“Seeing those deep shots fall against a solid defensive team like East Rankin was a catalyst of her personally,” Hartfield coach Steven Makamson said. “Her hand stayed hot at Heritage and at home against JA. All there games her scoring was great, and that combined with her aggressive rebounding and defensive efforts gave our team what we needed for those two wins.”

Jackson averaged 10 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.1 assists last season.

“Ella’s been putting in serious hardwood time and strength training for over two years now,” Makamson said. “As a freshman last year, she saw positive results from this efforts, but over the five to seven games this year, it’s really starting to click more consistently. I believe her confidence is catching up to the hard work she’s put in. It’s been good seeing her begin to receive the fruits of her labor. I totally believe there’s much more to come.”

Jackson is the daughter of Jeremy and Sha Boatner Jackson. Jeremy played basketball and baseball at West Lauderdale High and played baseball at Mississippi State where he was an All-SEC pitcher and helped the Bulldogs to back to back College World Series appearances in 1997 and 1998 and the Southeastern Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year as a senior in 1998. Sha played softball and basketball at West Lauderdale and attended MSU. Jackson’s brothers are Garrett and Graham. Garrett played baseball at Hartfield and is a junior at MSU and is a manager on the baseball team. Graham played baseball at Hartfield is a freshman baseball player at Meridian Community College.

Sha’s father, Jerry Boatner, is the winningest high school baseball in Mississippi history and is in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Boatner is currently coaching at Clarke Central High in Athens, Ga., his third year at Clarke and his seventh year coaching in Georgia. Boatner coached in Mississippi for 50 seasons (45 at West Lauderdale and five at Clarkdale), won 1,095 games and 14 state championships and was named the national coach of the year by USA Today. 

MAIS Class 4A Heritage, 8-9, plays next against MHSAA Class 5A Vicksburg Monday, Dec. 29, at 2:40 p.m. in the Community Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Girls Tournament at Jackson Prep in Flowood.

Mississippi Scoreboard selects a girls basketball player from Hinds, Madison, or Rankin counties each week. Coaches can nominate a player by sending a text to Robert Wilson at 601.506.2276. 

PREVIOUS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

WEEK ONE: Liz Stevens, East Rankin Academy