By Robert Wilson
The Leake Academy girls basketball team won its 23rd state championship in school history Saturday.
And like the most talented No. 23 in NBA history – Michael Jordan – did for many years in the league, Leake rolled through the playoffs and defeated Kirk Academy 56-34 for the MAIS Class 3A state title at Kirk’s gym in Grenada.
Leake – ranked No. 11 in Mississippi and No. 1 in MAIS Class 3A by MaxPreps – improved to 32-4, won its 14th consecutive game and meets Class 4A, Division III champion Oak Forest, La., Thursday at 7:15 p.m. in the first round of the Overall Tournament at Mississippi College in Clinton.
Kirk – ranked No. 87 in Mississippi and No. 2 in MAIS Class 3A – dropped to 14-9 and meets Class 4A, Division II runner-up Jackson Academy Wednesday at 7:15 p.m. in a first round game.
Leake defeated Kirk for the third time this season, 58-25 Nov. 6 at Leake, 56-27 last week in the North Class 3A state championship game, and Saturday’s win.
To show how dominating Leake has been this season in Class 3A, the Rebelettes won their 10 district games by an average of 42.2 points per game and the closest game was 37 points and that’s with the starters not.playing a lot of the second half. Leake won its five playoff games by an average of 33.6 points and the closest game was Saturday’s championship game.
Leake led Kirk 11-3 after the first quarter, 25-10 at halftime, and 39-22 after three quarters.
Senior guard and Southwest Mississippi Community College signee Jenna Allen – Mississippi’s leader in made 3-pointers, according to MaxPreps, for the second straight season – led Leake with 14 points, including four 3-pointers to give her 94 this season. Freshman guard Sarah Prince had 13 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Senior forward Addie Crowe had 11 points, and junior forward Kylee Boykin had 11 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals. Senior forward Hannah Clark had six rebounds.
This was Leake’s first state title since 2022 and this will be Leake’s first Overall appearance since 2023.
Leake coach Amanda Hatch has been a part of eight state titles and two Overall championships as a player and coach. She was a junior on the 1999 Overall championship team, which finished 46-0, and she has led Leake to seven state titles and one Overall crown (2021) in her 12th season as head coach. Hatch has a 412-56 record at Leake, an amazing 88.0 winning percentage, and 529 wins overall in her 17th season, the first five years at Prep.
“I’m so excited for our team,” Hatch said. “I love their competitive edge. They demonstrate it daily in practice and have also demonstrated it in each game throughout the year. It wasn’t always pretty and Kirk didn’t make it easy for us, but we did whatever it took and persevered to complete the outstanding accomplishment. I’m proud of our team and especially for these seniors.
“We got off to a slow start offensively (3 of 18 from 3 in the first half), but we were able to get it going and get some separation in the third. It was a total team effort. Our defense and rebounding were great.”
“We knew going into Kirk that they were going to throw something different at us, but I knew Coach Hatch had us prepared for whatever came out way,” Crowe said. “We’ve worked so hard all year for this moment and now our hard work has finally paid off.”
“Coach Hatch has told us all year that nothing would be handed to us,” Clark said. “We knew we were going to have to fight hard to win each game during the playoffs, no matter the past outcomes of our games. On championship day, we came into the gym knowing Kirk had home-court advantage adn that the atmosphere was going to be intense. However, we knew that we could battle through anything they sent our way. We stepped up to the challenge and didn’t let the pressure shake us. In the end, the work we put in all season led to that win Saturday.”
Now, Leake points its attention to the Overall where it has won six times in school history. Former Leake coach Doyle Wolverton – the winningest girls basketball coach in Mississippi history – won five of those in 1986, 1987, 1994, 1999 and 2009.
Three of Leake’s four losses are to teams in the Overall, losing to Class 4A, Division II champion Madison-Ridgeland Academy 48-43 in the season opener, Class 4A, Division I runner-up East Rankin Academy 61-51 in the third game of of the season and Class 4A, Division I champion Simpson Academy 47-46 Dec. 2 at Leake, Leake’s only loss at home this season. The only other loss this season was to MHSAA Class 4A Tishomingo County, ranked No. 4 in Mississippi
If Leake defeats Oak Forest in the first round, the Rebelettes would likely have a rematch with East Rankin in the Saturday’s quarterfinals. If Leake can get past East Rankin (Leake beat East Rankin 54-35 Jan. 17 at Leake), it would likely meet the winner between MRA and defending Overall champion Parklane Academy in the semifinals next Monday. Simpson is on the other side of the bracket and is the favorite to get to the finals.
“We have been looking forward to getting back to the Overall for a couple of years,” Hatch said. “This senior group is determined. We are looking forward to the chance to compete against the best this week.”
Kirk had a 7-7 record when boys coach Josh Zietz took over for Harrison Nickle at the Christmas break. The Lady Raiders won 17 straight games before losing to Leake last week in the North State championship game, winning 16 of those games by double figures.
“We have four seniors and two freshman that play,” said Zietz, who is in his second year at Kirk and led Clinton Christian Academy to boys and girls state championships in 2021, becoming only the second MAIS coach to win boys and girls state titles in the same year (Craig Dailey did it in 1999 and 2003 at Delta). “We are led by Charley Rose who averages 22 points per game. She scored 41 points against Oak Hill (in last week’s state tournament). Our other seniors are Parker Avant, our toughest player who is going to Mississippi Gulf Coast on a golf scholarship, point guard Charlee Sultan and Cecile Brister, our defensive stopper. Our two freshman are Claire Thomas and Joleigh Sultan.
“When I took over, I told the girls two things had to happen for them to get to the championship. I was going to get them in great shape through conditioning and they needed to start having fun. We accompanied both. We finished 19-2. In the state championship game, we pushed Leake as it was a 10-game game late in the third quarter and we had a couple of chances to get closer. We just ran out of gas.”
Kirk last played for the state championship in 2022 when it lost to Lamar Christian.
Kirk was one of the top girls basketball programs in Mississippi in the 1970s and 1980s, winning eight state championships (1976, 1979-1982 and 1986-88) and four Overall titles in 1975-77 and 1988, all of those under the guidance of legendary Coach Ronnie Aldy. Kirk also won an Overall title in 2018. Coach Amy Denley led Kirk to a win over Leake in the championship game. Denley was the first one in MAIS history to win a girls Overall as a player (at Kirk) and as coach. Since Denley accomplished the feat in 2018, Leake’s Hatch and East Rankin coach Brooke Rhodes – both winning as a coach at their alma mater after winning an Overall as a player – have achieved the rare feat.
