By Robert Wilson
The East Rankin Academy girls won their 20th game of the season Tuesday night with a 56-26 victory over Tri-County Academy at Tri-County’s gym in Flora.
The Lady Patriots might be the first team in the country to win 20 games. No one in Mississippi has won 20 – the second most is 14 – and no one in the MaxPreps National Top 25 has won 20 either. There is no national database on current team wins, but if East Rankin isn’t the first to win 20, it doesn’t take long to call the roll. It’s unheard of for a team to win 20 games before Christmas. Most teams don’t play 20 games before Christmas.
East Rankin coach Brooke Rhodes – yes, the same one who dominated the MAIS 13 years ago – is trying to bring back the winning ways to the Pelahatchie private school when she swished jump shot after jump shot in consistent fashion. Rhodes averaged 21.4 points and led East Rankin to a 35-2 record and the MAIS Overall Tournament championship for the first in school history. She scored 35 points in the Overall championship win over Pillow and averaged 32 in three Overall games. Rhodes scored 2,568 points in her high school career.
These days, Rhodes is helping her girls put the ball through the hoop. And they are doing a pretty good job of it, rolling to a 20-4 record so far this season.
No. 20 came Tuesday as 6-foot-2 freshman forward Liz Stevens had a game-high 14 points and sophomore forward Addison Derrick added 11 points. East Rankin defeated Class 5A power and last year’s Overall semifinalist Leake 68-62 in a District 2 game last week.
East Rankin is not only a contender for the 5A state title, but the Lady Patriots also have a legitimate shot of the Overall title. Their losses are two 5A Brookhaven Academy (10 points), 5A Pillow Academy (two points), 5A Simpson Academy (six points) and 4A Central Hinds Academy (one point). East Rankin has defeated 6A Jackson Prep and 6A Jackson Academy.
“We played in some early preseason games because we are so young and I think playing games got us some early experience and will help us down the road,” said Rhodes, who is in her third season at East Rankin. She was a star at Delta State and Southern Miss and was an assistant coach at Central Arkansas, Jones College, Presbyterian College, and Western Carolina for a combined six years before deciding to come home.
“I learned a lot and it was a great experience coaching college, but I knew I always wanted to be a high school coach,” Rhodes said. “It is so cool to coach where my Papa’s name (Rhodes’ and former East Rankin coach Billy Rhodes) is on the (East Rankin) gym. It is special. He comes to some of the practices and comes to the games.”
Rhodes starts one senior (Addison Brown), one junior (Presley Thompson), two sophomores (Holly Jackson and Derrick) and one freshman (Stevens). Sophomore Ashley Miller is the first player off the bench.
“I think this group has a chance to go far into the playoffs if we will continue to play hard and be unselfish,” Rhodes said. “We have the guard play and post play and have several people who can have a big night on any given night.
“I’m really proud of this group. We are young as a whole but have great leadership from Addison. She has been so consistent in how hard she plays and practices. This group is so special because it hasn’t been just one or two players who have been the leading scorers in our games.”
Stevens – whose older sister Abigail was a star as a sophomore and was on the PriorityOne Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Team but decided not to play her junior and senior years to concentrate on softball (she signed with Mississippi State this fall) – leads East Rankin with 13.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Jackson is second with 11.4 points per game.
Rhodes sees similarities in this team and her senior year, but one big difference. And then there is the difference that Rhodes is coaching, not playing on this team.
“This group can play fast and shoot it at times better than that overall group,” Rhodes said. “The main difference to me is we were mostly juniors and seniors (on the Overall title team) and this group is mainly sophomores and freshman.”
East Rankin is off for a week then play three games in three days next week – Class 4A Riverfield, La., Academy on Wednesday, Class 4A Clinton Christian Academy on Thursday and Class 5A Bowling Green, La., Academy on Friday in the Copiah Academy Tournament at Gallman.
East Rankin has 35 scheduled games going into the playoffs in late January. A 40-win season – never done before at East Rankin – isn’t out of the question.
East Rankin is ranked No. 16 in Mississippi and fifth among MAIS teams in the latest MaxPreps rankings, behind No. 4 Pillow, No. 8 Madison-Ridgeland Academy, No. 10 Leake Academy and No. 15 Rossville Christian, Tenn.
Rhodes would like to take this team deep into the playoffs and possibly get into the Overall Tournament at Mississippi College where she once won it all.
Said Rhodes: “We just have to keep getting better every game.”
