By Robert Wilson
MADISON – The Madison-Ridgeland Academy girls put a big bucket full of ice water on a red-hot Simpson Academy team Tuesday night to end Simpson’s 12-game winning streak.
On the strength of its defensive pressure, MRA held Simpson Academy without a field goal for the first 10 1/2 minutes of the game, jumped out to a 21-point halftime lead and cruised to a 46-27 victory in a MAIS Class 4A, District 3 game before an estimated 500 at MRA’s Duease Hall.
MRA – ranked No. 7 in Mississippi and No. 1 in MAIS Class 4A by MaxPreps – improved to 23-4 overall and 4-0 in district play and won its seventh straight game and winners of 14 of its last 15 games. All four of MRA’s losses are to MHSAA teams (No. 1 Biloxi, No. 4 Tishomingo County, No. 8 Choctaw Central and No. 10 Neshoba Central). MRA’s last loss to an MAIS team was when the Lady Patriots lost to Parklane Academy for the MAIS Overall Tournament championship last season.
Simpson Academy – ranked No. 13 in Mississippi and No. 2 in MAIS Class 4A by MaxPreps – dropped to 19-3. The Lady Cougars had not lost a game since a 57-53 decision to East Rankin Academy Nov. 20 at Simpson. Simpson’s only other loss is also to East Rankin.
MRA jumped out to a 13-1 lead after the first quarter as Simpson missed all eight field goal attempts and only points came on a free throw by freshman Elle McNulty after MRA had a 10-0 lead.
MRA senior guard and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College softball signee Jayda Smith made a rebound basket with 5:40 to play in the second quarter for Simpson’s first first goal. And it was its only field goal of the first half as MRA led 27-6 at halftime.
Meanwhile, MRA came out hot and made its first five 3-point attempts including three by junior guard Anna Morgan Anderson.
Tuesday’s victory was MRA coach Stephen Force’s 800th career win (660 at MRA) along with three Overall titles, four Overall runner-up finishes and three state championships in his 30-year coaching career, the last 24 years at MRA. Force is second behind Pillow coach Durwin Carpenter in girls basketball victories among active MAIS coaches. Carpenter has 1,236 victories.
Like many of those wins, Force’s teams did it with defense.
“We played with a lot of intensity tonight and our defense was pretty good,” Force said. “We had a pretty good idea how we were going to come out and guard and it was one of our better defensive games. We had a pretty good game plan and when you have good defenders to guard the best players on the other team, which we did tonight. As long as our defense continues to play well, it gives us a chance to win about every game we play. We put it together on the defensive end. When you hold a team to only one field goal in a half, you can’t ask for a better defensive effort than the girls gave tonight.
“(Simpson) Coach (Linda) Dear is a fantastic coach and has won a lot of games. I asked her before the game if they had played anyone out of our (MAIS) association and they haven’t. That’s by choice and that’s what they do. That’s why we play teams outside of our association and play tough teams like Biloxi and Tishomingo County because they make us better. They help us to be battle tested. It helps us down the stretch to play. We have been facing teams like that with pressure like that. Simpson may not have been seeing some of that. Our schedule has helped us with that. Now I know when we go down to Simpson (Jan. 30) it’s going to be a war and another battle. They will have something to say about what happened up here, but I think we will be ready.”
Senior guard Gabby Gray led MRA with 13 points. Anderson – a member of the Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Metro Jackson Elite 11 Team – had 12 points. Junior Anna Kate Woodward had 10 rebounds and four assists and senior guard-forward and West Florida signee Presley Hughes had 6 rebounds and a team-high 5 assists, and 2 steals.
“I think our tough schedule has definitely helped us and prepared us for these big games,” Anderson said. “We’ve played against all types of competition and it has helped us overall with becoming prepared for our tough district. We knew we had to start strong and come out being the aggressor.”
“We picked a really bad night to have a terrible shooting night,” said Simpson coach Linda Dear, who has 667 career wins to go along with four state championships, all at Simpson, in her 40 career seasons. 23 seasons at Simpson. “Their length and their physical play really gave us trouble, especially in the first half. Overall, I was pleased with the way we played in the second half. We actually outscored them 21-19, but we were not able to dig out of the hole that we dug in the first half. The thing that I am most proud of is our effort in the second half. It’s hard to keep playing when you are behind 27-6. I have great kids who work hard every day, and hopefully we can have a better game when we play them in two weeks.”
Smith led Simpson with 18 points and nine rebounds. Senior center Brooke Blackledge had eight rebounds.
