By Robert Wilson
FLOWOOD – Jayden Rhymes’ teammates and fans might be calling her “Big Game” Rhymes after her last two huge performances against high caliber competition.
For the second time in six days, the 5-foot-6 junior guard had an outstanding shooting night and led her Jackson Academy girls basketball team to a surprising victory over a defending MAIS champion.
Rhymes scored a career high again, this time with 28 points, including 24 in the second half, to lead JA to a pulsating, 64-58 overtime victory over defending Class 6A state champion Jackson Prep before a packed gym of an estimated 1,100, with about 300 of those students from both schools, standing up and yelling most of the game.
JA improved to 14-3 overall and 2-0 in 6A play and has won five games in a row and nine of the last 10 games. The Lady Raiders are off to their best start since they won the Class 5A state tournament, reached the Overall semifinals and had a 31-3 record during the 2020-2021 season.
Prep dropped to 16-5 overall and 1-1 in 6A play and broke its six-game winning streak. Prep’s only other MAIS losses are two points to undefeated Leake Academy and one point to defending Overall Tournament champion East Rankin Academy.
JA came into Friday No. 17 and Prep No. 12 in Mississippi in the latest MaxPreps rankings.
A week ago, Rhymes scored a then career-high 25 points to help JA to a 70-63 upset over East Rankin, which had won 21 out of 22 games this season and came in ranked No. 7 in Mississippi by MaxPreps. She made 9 of 16 shots from the field, 3 of 6 from 3-point range. Rhymes was named the Junction Deli/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Player of the Week for her performance.
And then Rhymes did her magic again against Prep Friday night. She made 9 of 15 shots from the field, 2 of 3 from 3-point range, and 8 of 9 from the free throw line, to go along with 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. After scoring only four points in the first half, she caught fire with eight points in the third quarter, 10 in the fourth quarter and six points in overtime.
JA outscored Prep 20-7 in the third quarter to take a 43-35 lead, led by as much as 11 in the fourth quarter, and led 50-39 with 3 minutes, 20 seconds to play. But Prep made a furious rally and tied the game at 53-53 on a clutch 3-pointer from the deep corner by senior guard Ann Magee Stradinger with 10 seconds to play. Then Prep 6-1 junior center Meg Barbour blocked a potential winning 3-pointer by JA with 1.3 seconds to play, JA missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer and the game went into overtime.
But JA quickly got the momentum back when Rhymes – who else? – made a 3-pointer with 2:55 to play for a 56-53 lead. Barbour made a 3-pointer for a 58-58 tie with 2:19 to play, but Prep didn’t score again. JA made six free throws (three by Rhymes, two by sophomore forward Mylee Maurer, and one by junior guard Ella King) to clinch the win.
Rhymes’ heroics gave JA coach Sojourner, the third winningest girls basketball coach in Mississippi history, her 1,047th victory in 45 seasons, with 941 wins in 40 seasons at JA. She also has won 10 state championships and a record six Overall titles.
“Jayden stepped up and was really incredible,” said Sojourner on an interview on the Raider Network with Bryan Eubank and Tommy Barnette. “It is amazing to me that Jayden controlled the ball about 70 percent of the time and had only three turnovers. This was pretty big, because they were pounding her pretty good. It is a situation to have to let them get a feel of what’s going on, let them get into the game, and then free them up and let them play. Jayden did a great job with that. She controlled in the end and was dribbling quite a bit. I felt good about that. She knew exactly what we wanted. She knew time and score. Jayden planted a seed early in the game in their players’ head. She made a steal right off the bat. It was like, ‘Oh my gosh, is she going to be with me all night?’ It makes a different when you can go plant that seed and go water it. It was huge. She was focused and ready to go. You get an atmosphere like this, goodness gracious, how can you not make up your mind to get out there and play. (Senior forward) Belle (Shoemaker) did a good job for us rebounding for us and doing the dirty work, nobody likes to do, getting rebounds and guarding. She also made a 3 at the end of the first half.”
Sojourner was also impressed with how her girls responded in overtime.
“When you are ahead by like eight points at the end of the game and let them come back and tie it, it just blows you out of the water,” Sojourner said. “The momentum goes completely to their side. I thought we did a good job of just staying with it for four minutes in overtime and finding a way to win the game. The first part of the overtime we (Rhymes) scored the first basket and that was huge for us.”
“Once Jackson Prep sent the game into overtime with some great shots, I told my teammates that this was a new ballgame and that we had to fight and leave everything on the floor and leave no regrets,” Rhymes said. “Getting the momentum to keep playing hard came from my coaches and teammates. They were encouraging the whole time and the coaches really helped me keep my head up and be a leader for my teammates. It is just an important win for my team because it shows that we are a great team that can compete at any level, even on the road. Prep is a really good defensive team and getting the lead was tough. I knew we had to guard hard and not give up anything easy. Coach always tells us that if we can guard, we can compete to win.”
“The girls on the bench cheering when the others come off the court and they make a mistake and they get a chance to hear me and also the girls encouraging them,” Sojourner said. “It’s ok, you are going to be ok. That’s huge for our bench, in the game and engaged. For the last couple of ballgames, they’ve been doing that, and it makes all the difference in the world.”
