By Robert Wilson
FLOWOOD – East Rankin Academy got its first win of the 2025-2026 season Monday night at Jackson Prep.
And like many of the wins for the Lady Patriots over the past several years – 77 wins over the past two years, one of the most successful girls basketball programs in Mississippi over that time span – East Rankin won it by double figures with a 43-33 victory.
But East Rankin coach Brooke Rhodes – considered one of the best shooters in MAIS history and led the Lady Patriots to their first Overall championship in 2010 and then guided East Rankin an Overall title in 2024 in her second season as head coach – will be the first one to say that Monday night’s 10-point win wasn’t easy.
“We are a bit off kilter still with graduating Presley (Thompson, now at William Carey) and playing Holly (Jackson) at the 1 (point guard) this year,” said Rhodes, who led East Rankin to a 39-8 record and Overall state championship in 2024 and 36-3 record and Class 5A state title last season. “So we are adjusting to that. I am proud of how we responded and weathered the storm a little bit. I think going into halftime (trailing 17-11), we all knew we had not played our best basketball. We are a very experienced team and they are going to figure it out. I did not say much at halftime but was very to the point of we have to be better and they did just that.”
Liz Stevens – a 6-foot-3 junior center and Division I recruit – led East Rankin with 15 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots – her second double double in any games this season – and had 13 points in the second half as she ignited East Rankin’s second half comeback. Stevens scored nine points in third quarter as East Rankin outscored Prep 17-1 to take a 28-18 lead going into the fourth quarter.
“Coach Rhodes said we weren’t playing ‘our kind’ of basketball,” said Stevens, who had 19 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in a 45-41 loss to Madison-Ridgeland Academy last week in East Rankin’s opener in the Madison Madness Preseason Classic at MRA. “We were disappointed in our performance during the first half. We talked about how we could help each other play better. We knew we had to be more aggressive and play harder and that’s what we did.”
Jackson, a 5-6 senior guard who has verbally committed to Copiah-Lincoln Community College in softball – added 10 points and seven rebounds.
“Coach Rhodes told us we had to play better and be tougher in the second half,” said Jackson, who like Stevens are members of the Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Metro Jackson Elite 11 Team. “Our defense was better, which led to better offense.”
Senior guard Ansley Miller had eight points, two 3-pointers (one a 23-footer from the right wing in the opening seconds of the third quarter to ignite the comeback), and four steals and junior forward Elizabeth Thrash had seven points, all in the fourth quarter, and seven rebounds. Junior Hayden Faulkner – who Rhodes said, “her defensive intensity turned things around for us,” – had four steals off the bench.
Prep dropped to 1-2 and lost its second straight game. Prep lost to Leake Academy 52-20 last week in the MRA’s Madison Madness Preseason Classic, but coach Michael McAnally was pleased with his team’s play, especially in the first half.
“I thought our kids competed at a very high level against a very good team, much better than our last time out,” said McAnally, who lost to Rhodes, who he coached at East Rankin, for fourth consecutive time. “Our energy level was high and we were able to turn defense into offensive opportunities (Prep held East Rankin without a field goal until the final seconds of the first quarter). We just were not able to score at a high level we needed to to win the game. Give East Rankin a ton of credit. We knew they would come out and respond in the second half and they did. They knocked down some big shots when they needed to and we were not able to match.”
Meg Barbour – a 6-3 senior center, Division I recruit, another member of the Preseason Elite 11 Team and Prep’s only returning starter – led Prep with 15 points, 12 in the first half. Junior guard Maggie Bailey and junior forward Lily Grubbs added seven points each.
East Rankin plays host to Leake Academy – considered one of the contenders for the Overall championship this season along with East Rankin – Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. at East Rankin in Pelahatchie.
East Rankin and Leake had played in the same district for years, but this year this game will be a non-district game. East Rankin is in Class 4A while Leake is in 3A. East Rankin has won five of the last seven meetings with Leake’s two wins at Leake. Leake’s last win at East Rankin was the 2022-2023 season.
“Leake era is always a fun atmosphere and we are looking forward to getting to host them this early in the season,” Rhodes said. “It’s been a big district game for us the last several years so it will be strange not having that riding on it, too.”
Prep plays host to defending Overall champion Parklane Academy Thursday at 6:15 p.m. at Prep in Flowood. Parklane is led by two of best players in Mississippi in senior guard Zoe Alford and sophomore guard and Division I recruit Carlyle Carruth, great niece of former Parklane, University of Alabama and NFL running back Paul Ott Carruth.
Parklane defeated Prep 58-54 in the Overall semifinals last season. Prep give Parklane one of its five losses with a 40-37 win in the second game of last season.
