By Robert Wilson
FLOWOOD – There will be a sixth state girls basketball championship banner hanging in the Simpson Academy’s gym next season.
Longtime Simpson coach Linda Dear earned her fifth state title Saturday afternoon as freshman Elle McNulty and senior Jayda Smith combined for 37 points to lead the Lady Cougars to a 54-45 victory over East Rankin Academy for the MAIS Class 4A, Division I state title before an estimated 1,200 at Jackson Prep’s gym.
And this one might have been the toughest of the six to win.
Simpson ranked 16th in enrollment out of the 20 teams in the Class 4A this year and had to battle through a gauntlet of outstanding girls teams in the same class like East Rankin, Madison-Ridgeland Academy, Parklane Academy, Pillow Academy, Jackson Prep, Jackson Academy and many other larger schools to win the championship.
“Every state championship is special,” said Dear, who won state titles at Simpson in 1993, 1996, 1998 and 2019 before Saturday’s and has won 675 games in 40 career seasons, 23 at Simpson. “This one was special because of how hard we had to fight to get there. We had to beat MRA, Parklane, Oak Forest (La.), Pillow and East Rankin – not an easy road. The leadership of my seniors, Jayda, Maggie (Shivers), Brooke (Blackledge) and Danni (Cooper) has guided us all year. They are heart and soul of this team. Anniston Bass, my only junior, had come through big in the last few games. I can’t say enough about Elle – a ninth grader who has started every game and is our leading scorer. Gracie Pinkerton, an eighth grader, came in tonight and went to work – unfazed by how big the game was. My girls on the bench who didn’t even get the game fought just as hard as anybody.”
Dear has won five of the six girls basketball state titles in school history. The first state title was in 1986 coached by Steve Simmons.
There was a special senior on Simpson’s championship team this season.
“Elie Stewart has not played all year but has been at practices and most games,” Dear said about Stewart, who was at the championship game Saturday. “She had a brain tumor removed in September in the ninth grade. She went through treatments at St. Jude and actually came back and played at the end of the ninth grade. Elie was one of our top six players in the 10th grade, but broke her leg at Christmas and missed the rest of the season. After the cancer kept coming back, she hasn’t been able to play. She has been an inspiration to all of us and there is not a day that goes by that we don’t pray for her. Currently, Elie is back and forth at MD Anderson in Houston and all the reports have been positive lately. Her faith is strong and you never see her without a smile on her face.”
Simpson – ranked No. 6 in Mississippi and No. 2 in MAIS Class 4A by MaxPreps – improved to 28-5 and meets Class 3A, Division II champion Ben’s Ford Christian, La., Thursday at 1:45 p.m. in the the first round of Overall Tournament at Mississippi College in Clinton.
East Rankin – ranked No. 16 in Mississippi and No. 3 in MAIS Class 4A – dropped to 29-6 and meets Class 2A, Division I runner-up Greenville Christian Thursday at 4:45 p.m. in a first round Overall game.
East Rankin had defeated Simpson in both regular season games by close scores, 58-55 Nov. 6 at East Rankin and 57-53 Nov. 17 at Simpson.
But Saturday, Simpson took control early.
McNulty – the daughter of Simpson head boys coach and assistant girls coach Josh McNulty who had a game-high 19 points – hit a trio of 3-pointers in the six minutes for 13-2 Simpson lead. Simpson led 15-6 after one quarter, 27-22 at halftime and 37-32 after three quarters. East Rankin went on a 10-0 run to tie the game at 20-20 with two minutes to play in the second quarter before Simpson went on a 7-0 run to take back the lead before halftime. East Rankin also got within one several times in the second half, but never took the lead.
McNulty and Smith – a Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College softball signee who had 18 points – combined to make seven straight free throws in the fourth quarter to kept control of the game. The talented duo also combined for 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 1 blocked shot.
“East Rankin had beaten us twice, but we felt like today would be different,” Dear said. “We watched film, studied everything they do, and we came up with a good game plan. Our kids executed our gam plan perfectly. (East Rankin’s 6-foot-2 junior forward Liz) Stevens hurt us in the first two games, and we knew we had to slow her down. Brooke did a terrific job on her, and our guards kept pressure on their shooters. My girls never quit – they just refuse to lose. I told them after our game that they were my heroes. Our crowd was amazing today. Our fans and our student section were the absolute best.”
“Both of the games we lost to them were early in the season, and East Rankin is a championship team and they made crucial plays to finish those games out and win,” said McNulty, whose father Josh won two baseball state titles as a player for Simpson in 1997 and 1998 and won a boys basketball state title as a coach for Simpson in 2023. “Those two games helped us throughout the year to figure out ways to finish tough games like the one tonight. I thought we got off to a fast start, and our team is so connected and tough that we were able to play strong and finish tonight’s game with a win. It was our goal at the beginning of the year, and Coach Dear set that expectation through all of the tough practices every day leading up tonight.“
“Heading into this game, we remembered our two regular season losses to East Rankin,” Smith said. “We trusted and followed Coach Dear’s game plan, which helped us secure the win. There was no better feeling than defeating them in the state championship when it mattered most. I also want to give a shoutout to our fans and student section. Their loud and supportive presence gave us the extra boost we needed to win the championship. Now, our focus is on winning the Overall title.”
“We played harder than ever, gave it our all – this was our time, our moment,” said Blackledge, who had four points and eight rebounds. “It was all part of God’s plan, and we stepped up to claim what was meant for us. Playing against Liz Stevens was my biggest challenge yet, but we’ve been working nonstop on staying strong, keeping my focus, and pushing through every moment. Now, we’re totally ready for next week – it’s going to be a tough job, no doubt, but the job isn’t done yet. We’re still grinding, staying focused, and ready to take on whatever comes next. This team isn’t backing down, we’re just getting started.”
East Rankin coach Brooke Rhodes was trying to win her second consecutive state championship to along with her Overall title in 2024 in her fifth year as East Rankin’s coach. Rhodes – considered one of the top scorers in MAIS history – won two state titles and one Overall as player at East Rankin in 2009 and 2010.
“Simpson played well, they wanted this game more than us in the moment,” Rhodes said. “I’m proud of our girls, and wouldn’t want to coach any other group. We will regroup and get ready to play tougher next week. I’m excited to get the chance to play in Overall next week.”
Stevens – a member of the Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Metro Jackson Elite 11 Team – had 16 points and 17 rebounds. It was only the second time in the past eight games that Stevens was held below 20 points.
“We couldn’t get our shots to fall and they played well in every aspect of the game,” Stevens said. “We are thankful we get another chance next week.”
