By Robert Wilson
Defending MAIS Class 6A state champion and Overall Tournament champion Jackson Academy and 2024 6A state runner-up Jackson Prep are considered the favorites to contend for the 6A boys basketball state title this season.
Hartfield Academy wants to join the party and made a statement Tuesday night with a surprising, 50-48 victory over Prep at Prep’s Patriot gym in Flowood.
Pepper Wilson, a 6-foot junior guard, had 15 points, 3 assists and 2 steals, 6-4 senior Caleb Warden had 11 points and 3 steals and 6-3 senior point guard Wiggy Ball had 10 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals to lead Hartfield to its first win over Prep since the 2021-2022 season.
Hartfield improved to 15-3 overall and 2-1 in league play and is tied with Prep and JA for first place. Prep dropped to 17-4 overall.
Hartfield came into the game ranked No. 13 in Mississippi by MaxPreps. Prep was ranked No. 5.
“I’m proud of my guys for their effort, attitude and composure on Tuesday playing in a great environment,” second-year Hartfield coach Chris Goodman said. “We weren’t always our sharpest, and Prep had some to do with that, but we were good enough when we had to be. We can and we should be proud of that effort and that win, but we cannot have a hangover effect going into Friday (against Madison-Ridgeland Academy). Everybody in this league is good and not being our sharpest may cost us. Our goal is to take this one day and one game at a time. Keep stacking good days and playing selfless and for each other. We cherish every win in this league because of how good this league has been over the years.”
Prep jumped out to a 10-point lead, but Hartfield bounced back for a 24-19 halftime lead. Hartfield led 42-32 after three quarters, and Prep made a run to take the lead early in the fourth quarter before Hartfield rallied again to pull out the win.
“Prep is a very good basketball team and well coached, so we had to make some adjustments after we fell down 10 points early,” Goodman said. “My guys responded well and really defended well to finish out the first half and we just tried to take things one possession at a time. We knew that Prep wasn’t going to lay down because they are tough and talented. (Prep senior guard) Ben Segrest made some tough shots; (Prep junior forward) Kevin Roberts was seemingly everywhere on the court. Once again, we had to make adjustments and made just enough plays down the stretch to pull it out.”
Prep was coming off a big win over JA Friday night in a rematch of last year’s state championship game and started off like it played against the Raiders and led 13-4 after the first quarter.
“We played a good first quarter,” second-year Prep coach Zach Allison said. “Then we went ice cold from the field. We have to be disciplined enough to take quality shots on every possession. Give credit to Coach Goodman and his group, they were the most physical team throughout the game and did a great job of defending. We understand it takes a lot to win in this league. Every opponent we play is high quality, and we have to be ready to go every day.”
“Wiggy was great for us all game in getting us set up on offense,” Goodman said. “He did a tremendous job of taking care of the lead. Pepper made some big shots when we needed him to, and Caleb was Caleb. I was most proud of my guys because of our willingness to defend to get ourselves back into the game when we didn’t make shots early. Everybody played their tails off defensively and rebounded extremely well against a physical and athletic team.”
“Going into the game we knew it was going to take a full team effort,” said Ball, a Meridian Community College baseball signee who is a member of the Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Metro Jackson Elite 11 Basketball Team and is averaging 13 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists this season. “We were really focused Monday at practice, and it carried over to the game. We fell behind early but managed to fight back and take a 5-point lead heading into the half. Coach Goodman made great in game adjustments while they were coming back. They went on an 11-0 run to start the fourth quarter, which was to be expected from a great team like Prep, but we have a bunch of experienced players, and everyone kept their composure. The game was never out of reach for Prep as they kept making shots, but I was confident in my team’s ability to win the game. All in all, it was an amazing game and good for our team.”
Segrest – a member of the Preseason Elite 11 Team like Ball – led Prep with 17 points. Roberts, rated as the No. 8 baseball player in the country in the Class of 2026 by Perfect Game, had 10 points and six rebounds. Senior guard John Ed Maddux had eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
