By Robert Wilson
The Leake Academy girls started the season not shooting their favorite shot – the 3-pointer – very well, but the Rebelettes have heated up and got red hot Friday against Starkville Academy.
Leake set a Mississippi record and made 22 3-pointers and shot 48.9 percent from 3-point range and defeated Starkville Academy 82-24 at Starkville Academy.
Leake broke the record held by Leake and Brookhaven Academy, which both made 20 in the 2022-2023 season within two weeks of each other.
The national record is held by Guy-Perkins High from Arkansas, which made 34 against Little Rock Walnut Valley Christian Nov. 4, 1999.
Leake made three 3s in the first quarter, eight in the second quarter, eight in the third quarter and two in the fourth quarter.
Senior Jenna Allen made a team-high seven 3-pointers, six in the first half, freshman Sarah Prince made four, senior Hannah Clark made three, junior Codi Breedlove, senior Addie Crowe and senior Ella Grace Bennett made two each, and junior Reese McKay and junior Brealynn Malone made one each.
“We seem to have settled into our 3-point shooting rhythm,” Leake coach Amanda Hatch said. “Last night was a complete team effort with eight different players hitting 3s. We had 26 assists as well as great screening to help shooters get open and relentless offensive rebounding with kickouts to shooters.”
Leake didn’t shoot from 3-point range very well earlier this season in losses to Madison-Ridgeland Academy and East Rankin Academy in the first three games of the season, but have heated during its five-game winning streak. Leake has made 46 of 106 from 3-point range, 43.4 percent, over the past five games.
Allen is averaging a team-high 13.5 points and has made 25 of 57 from 3-point range, 44 percent. She is first in Mississippi and is tied for 35th in the nation, according to MaxPreps. Prince is averaging 12.8 points and has made 17 of 49 from 3-point range, 34.7 percent. She made a team-best 38.8 percent last season.
Allen made a Mississippi best 92 3-pointers last season.
She is on pace to break that mark this season. Allen is averaging 3.1 3-pointers per game, and averaged 2.5 last season.
“I looked down at Coach Hatch at one point and said, ‘Hey, y’all could miss a couple you know.’” Said first-year Starkville Academy coach Mark Alexander, who also is the boys coach, and has been coaching basketball in MAIS for 16 seasons. “That’s Leake, though. They have so many shooters, and they have the green light to shoot it. They shoot it with a lot of freedom. When they get hot like that, there’s not a lot you can do.”
Leake is well known for being one of the best 3-point shooting teams in Mississippi. The Rebelettes made 313 3-pointers, an average of 8.6 per game, last season. Leake has made at least 300 3-pointers in three of the past four seasons.
“We spend a lot of time in practice shooting, but we have a lot of girls who are gym rats and really work on their shooting outside of practice,” Hatch said. “That gives them the assurance that they can make it consistently, and they know I give them the green light because of my confidence in them. We love to say 3 > 2 (three is greater than two). It’s mathketball.”
Leake is considered the favorite to win the MAIS Class 3A state championship this season, and bring home their 23rd state trophy in school history.
In addition, the tradition rich program is shooting for its seventh Overall Tournament title this season.
Leake hasn’t won a state title since 2022 and hasn’t made the Overall title for the two seasons.
Hatch – who has been a part of seven state titles and two Overall championships as a player and coach – is ready to get to back to the winner’s circle. She was a junior on the 1999 Overall championship team, which finished 46-0, and she has led Leake to six state titles and one Overall crown in her 12th season as head coach. Hatch has a 386-55 at Leake, an amazing 87.9 winning percentage, and 503 wins overall in her 17th season, the first five years at Prep.
Hatch has two returning starters – Prince and Allen – from last year’s 32-5 team.
Leake, 6-2, plays Pillow Academy, 6-2, at 12:15 p.m. Monday and defending MHSAA Class 7A state champion Tupelo, 3-1, Tuesday at 4:15 p.m. in the Starkville Academy Thanksgiving Classic.
