By Robert Wilson
Germantown High All-American guard Madison Booker has been focused on helping her Lady Mavs win since a one-point loss to MHSAA defending Class 4A state champion Choctaw Central Nov. 15 at Germantown.
And that’s not a good thing for the rest of the Class 6A girls basketball teams.
Germantown rolled to its seventh straight double-figure win against Mississippi teams Tuesday night with a 48-27 victory over Brandon in a battle between two 6A state championship contenders at Germantown in Gluckstadt.
The game also featured three of the players – Booker, Germantown’s Alana Rouser and Brandon’s Kynnedi Davis – on the PriorityOne Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Preseason Elite 11 Team
Booker led the way with 24 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists and 3 blocked shots.
Germantown improved to 12-2 with its only losses the one-point decision to Choctaw Central on a last-second free throw and a 59-49 decision to undefeated and Hoover, Ala., ranked No. 13 in the nation by MaxPreps, Saturday at a tournament in Pontotoc. Brandon dropped to 8-5 and lost to Germantown for the second time this season.
Choctaw Central kept Booker – a 6-foot-1 Texas signee and two-time USA Basketball Team gold medalist who is rated the No. 3 player in the country – from scoring in the first half and had a 10-point halftime lead in the game a month ago. But Germantown made a furious comeback before Choctaw Central junior guard Kylinn Bell made a free throw with 0.2 seconds to play for a 57-56 victory.
Booker – the two-time Priority One Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Girls Basketball Player of the Year and the 2021 Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year – finished with 14 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot against Choctaw Central.
But since that loss, Booker has led teammates to lopsided wins and scored at least 18 points in every game except for a 13-game against Provine when she didn’t play but a little more than two quarters. Her biggest game was a 30-point performance – tying her career high – in a win over Ridgeland in the Madison County Tournament. Booker also hit 5 3-pointers in the first quarter in a win over Hernando.
Booker continued her outstanding play Tuesday against Brandon. She had 15 points in the first half and led Germantown to a 27-14 halftime lead.
“Madison had a great all-around game tonight,” Germantown coach Jamie Glasgow said. “She scored, rebounded, got the ball to the open person, and played hard on the defensive end. Alana (Rouser) rebounded great as usual. I thought we played with great intensity on the defensive end. We rotated and communicated very well. As a team, we took care of the ball for the most part. We had a couple of spurts where we had some turnovers, but we settled down and did what we were supposed to do. I’m proud of the effort for everyone.”
The 6-foot Rouser, a Division I prospect and junior forward, had 9 points, 12 rebounds and 3 steals for Germantown, which played without starting point guard Raegan Jordan, out with a muscle issue. Germantown was already playing without Charlie Gamberine, an accurate 3-point shooting sophomore guard who is out with a knee injury since the start of the season.
Booker is averaging 19.0 points (eighth best in Mississippi, according to MaxPreps), 7.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.6 steals this season. Rouser is averaging 12.4 points, 10.2 rebounds (fifth best in Mississippi, according to MaxPreps) and 3.2 steals. Rouser – who has Division 1 offers from Southern Miss, Alcorn State, Jackson State, Mississippi Valley, Florida International and Louisiana-Monroe – had a career-high 22 points against Choctaw Central and had a career-high 22 rebounds last season.
Germantown, which has Booker and Rouser returning from last year’s 24-7 team that reached the semifinals of the 6A state playoffs, has visions of going all the way to the state championship this season. When Booker was a sophomore and Rouser a freshman two years ago, Germantown reached the state championship game, but lost to Olive Branch 66-62.
Germantown has two tough 6A opponents next week, a trip Tuesday to the Mississippi Gulf Coast to play 2022 6A state runner-up Harrison Central, which eliminated Germantown by 18 points in last year’s state semifinals, and a matchup Thursday against 6A state title contender and undefeated Tupelo at Canton. Tupelo’s last loss was to Germantown in the last year’s state quarterfinals.
Davis, a 5-6 senior guard, led Brandon with 11 points. She scored a career-high and school record 44 points, including 11 3-pointers (tying for second most for Mississippi history), against Hancock last season.
“I was disappointed in our lack of response and our fight at the end of the game,” Brandon coach Candace Foster said. “Germantown has two of the best players in the state in Booker and Rouser and I believe we can compete with them; however, we did not show that last night. The good news is that it’s a long season and we have the opportunity to bounce back Friday against our local rival, Northwest Rankin.”
