The Madison Central Lady Jaguars basketball team hosted the Germantown Lady Mavericks at MC on Friday, January 13, 2023.

By Robert Wilson
Photos by Chris Todd

       MADISON – Madison Central has had the upper hand over Germantown in the majority of the sports between the two Madison County rivals, even after Germantown joined Madison Central in MHSAA Class 6A four years ago.

       But not in girls basketball.

       Germantown continued its domination of the series by winning its ninth straight game with an amazing finish, scoring the last eight points of the game for a 57-53, come-from-behind victory Friday night in a 6A-Region 4 game before a loud crowd of an estimated 700 at Madison Central’s gym.

       Germantown, one of the favorites to win the 6A state championship this season, improved to 18-2 and won its 13th straight game against Mississippi teams. Germantown’s only Mississippi loss was a 57-56 decision to defending MHSAA 4A state champion Choctaw Central. Germantown’s only other loss was a 59-49 decision to Hoover, Ala., ranked No. 19 in the country by Maxpreps.

       Madison Central dropped to 11-9 and lost to Germantown for the second time this season, also losing 52-37 in the Madison County Tournament championship game. The Lady Jags haven’t beaten the Lady Mavs since the 2015-2016 season.

       Madison Central looked in control with a 21-10 halftime lead and had held Germantown’s All-American senior guard and Texas signee Madison Booker without a field goal and only two points in the first two quarters.

       But the 6-foot-1 Booker – the two-time USA Basketball Team gold medalist who is rated as the No. 3 player in the country in the Class of 2023 – heated up in the third quarter. She scored 16 points in the third quarter – four 3-pointers, including one from about 25 feet, a driving layup and two free throws – in a dazzling four-minute span of offense, and Germantown picked up the defensive intensity to shrink the Madison Central lead to 37-30 going into the fourth quarter.

       Booker – who finished with a game-high 29 points, 27 in the second half, and nine rebounds – and her teammates continued the momentum in the fourth quarter and took a 48-47 lead on senior guard Sydney Wilder’s layup with 2 minutes, 25 seconds to play, Germantown’s first lead since the first quarter. Madison Central senior guard Jayda Morris, who scored a team-high 19 points, made two free throws for a 53-49 lead with 1:43 to play, but Germantown then scored the last eight points of the game. Booker connected on a 3-pointer from the corner for a 55-53 Germantown lead with 30 seconds to play. Madison Central missed two free throw attempts with 14.6 seconds to play to tie the game when Booker fouled out on the play. Germantown senior guard and Holmes Community College commitment Jer’Mya Brandon made two free throws with 12 seconds to play for the final margin of victory.

       “Madison Central played very well tonight,” said Germantown coach Jamie Glasgow, who has been the team’s head coach since the school opened 12 years ago. “They were disciplined on offense and stuck to the game plan. We had a very difficult time making shots in the first half, and we weren’t rotating on defense. We made some adjustments at halftime and played a better second half. Our defense won the game for us.”

       “At halftime, we increased our on ball pressure and caused them to speed up and play out of control,” Booker said. “My mentality when I came out of halftime was, ‘we are going to win this game.’ I kept shooting my shots and when I saw the ball go through the net a few times, my teammates got hot, too.”

       It was another close loss for Madison Central against Germantown. A year ago, Madison Central almost broke the streak, losing in four overtimes at Germantown.

       “I’m super proud of the way my team competed tonight,” said Madison Central coach Tameika Brown, who hasn’t defeated Germantown in her six years as Lady Jags coach. “We did a pretty good job of executing the game plan. Down the stretch, we got out rebounded a couple of times and they were able to make plays with the second opportunity.”

       Germantown’s 6-foot junior forward Alana Rouser had 10 points and 14 rebounds. Junior guard Micaiah Satcher had eight points, five in the fourth quarter.

       Junior forward Eminah Thurman had 15 points for Madison Central. Seventh-grade point guard Karley Robinson had nine points.