By Robert Wilson
East Rankin Academy’s Holly Jackson is going to play softball at Copiah-Lincoln Community College next year.
A warning to the students on Co-Lin’s campus for next year: don’t challenge Jackson to a free throw contest because you will probably lose.
The 5-foot-6 senior guard made 13 of 14 free throw attempts (92.9 percent) and scored a game-high 23 points to lead East Rankin to a 61-51 victory over Leake Academy in a battle between two of top girls basketball teams in Mississippi Tuesday night at East Rankin’s Billy Dome in Pelahatchie.
East Rankin improved to 2-1 and won its second straight game since losing its season opener to Madison-Ridgeland Academy. Leake dropped to 1-2.
This game is a non-district game for the first time in several years. East Rankin is in MAIS Class 4A and Leake is in Class 3A. Both teams are contenders for their respective state championships.
Both teams had lost to MRA in the Madison Madness Preseason Classic last week at MRA and had defeated Jackson Prep and this game was expected to be a tight one.
It was in the first half as the teams battled to a 27-27 tie before East Rankin took control in the third quarter, led by Jackson.
Jackson – who didn’t have a field goal in the first half – scored 13 points in the third quarter on back to back 3-pointers to give East Rankin the lead for good and 7 of 8 free throw attempts as East Rankin outscored Leake 15-6 in the all-important third quarter.
Jackson – a member of the Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Metro Jackson Elite Team – finished with 19 points in the second half. She fouled out with 27.9 seconds to play.
“it’s always such a fun environment playing them win or lose,” said East Rankin coach Brooke Rhodes, who has won six of the last eight meetings with Leake, with the only two losses at Leake. “Both crowds are always awesome. We got in some foul trouble early with Liz and so Holly had to step up and make some plays and lead us. And because of that with her, it made everyone around her better. (Senior guard) Ansley Miller (seven points and three steals) led us with her defense, (junior forward) Elizabeth Thrash (nine points and seven rebounds) played huge minutes for us down low and (junior) Hayden Faulkner (eight points and two steals off the bench) again with her defense.”
“We played good team basketball in the second half,” Jackson said. “Our defensive intensity was very good. Each player stepped up in a big way when it mattered most. We shoot a lot of free throws in practice and that helped a lot. When I get to the line, I just stick to the routine I have.”
East Rankin’s Liz Stevens – a 6-3 junior center, Division I recruit and like Jackson a member of the Preseason Elite 11 Team – had eight points and eight rebounds despite spending a lot of time on the bench in foul trouble. Stevens had back to back double doubles (19 points and 16 rebounds vs. MRA and 15 points and 16 rebounds vs. Jackson Prep) in the first two games this season.
Senior guard Jenna Allen had 13 points and junior guard Codi Breedlove had 11 points off the bench to lead Leake. Freshman guard Sarah Prince had eight points and was in foul trouble most of the game, fouling out with four minutes to play in the game.
“The first half and the fourth quarter were super right and competitive in an intense environment, but the third quarter was the difference in the game,” Leake coach Amanda Hatch said. “We struggled to find ways to score, while Jackson was able to really keep their offense going. Overall, I thought we rebounded really well and played incredibly hard, but ultimately, too many turnovers that resulted in points for them combined with several easy missed shots by us was too tough of a combination for us to overcome against a really good team.”
It was an emotional night for Rhodes, her father, Keith, her assistant coach, and her family. It was the first home game without Rhodes’ grandfather and Keith’s father, legendary East Rankin coach Billy Rhodes, who passed away earlier this year. The gym is named after him. Rhodes passed away on his 84th birthday March 4.
Rhodes served many roles during his five and half decades at East Rankin. He was a head of school (in the 1970s), math teacher (until 2012), basketball coach (boys for 18 years and girls for 31 years), athletic director (18 years) and elementary physical education teacher and assistant basketball coach.
He won three consecutive boys state championships (1975-77), one girls state runner-up finish in 1980 and was inducted into the Mississippi Private School Association Hall of Fame in 2004. He was also an assistant coach for Michael McAnally when Brooke Rhodes led East Rankin to back to back state titles in 2009 and 2010 and the Overall Tournament championship in 2010.
“It was emotional for a lot of us involved not having Pawpaw there,” Rhodes said. “He meant so much to so many of us and especially to this group of girls. They loved him and he loved them. He had been telling me since he watched them in the third and fourth grade how special they would be. This group is special in the fact that they are such great kids and they even got a plaque and ball to remember last night and set up a stadium seat for him. To me this team is like family and last night proved that even more with how much it meant to them to make it a special night.”
“He was very special to me, always having a hug and encouraging word,” Stevens said about Coach Billy Rhodes. “We will miss not seeing his smile and feelng his support but his life legacy will on.”
