By Robert Wilson
MADISON – Madison-Ridgeland senior guard-forward Presley Hughes is one of the best defensive players in Mississippi, has great court awareness, and is a solid rebounder.
And for the second straight game to open the 2025 season, Hughes has doubled her scoring average from last season, scored in double figures and almost reached her career high.
The 6-foot Hughes scored a team-high 15 points – seven in the fourth quarter – to lead MRA to a 45-41 victory over East Rankin Academy in a battle between two of the top teams in Mississippi in MRA’s Madison Madness Preseason Classic Wednesday night at MRA’s Duease Hall in Madison.
MRA has beaten two of the top MAIS teams in Mississippi this week with wins over East Rankin Wednesday and Leake Academy Monday.
Hughes had seven points in the last four minutes of the game to help MRA keep the lead.
After East Rankin’s Liz Stevens made two free throws to cut the MRA lead to 34-33, Hughes made back to back layups to push the lead to 38-33s, the last one with 2 minutes, 50 seconds to play.
MRA made seven of eight free throw attempts – three of four by Hughes – in the final two minutes to keep the lead.
Hughes – who averaged 6.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2 steals and shot 77 percent from the free throw line last season – has more than 30 college offers from 12 states.
She scored 12 points in a 48-43 win over Leake Monday so she’s averaging 13.5 points this season.
Hughes also had team highs with 7 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 2 steals Wednesday night against East Rankin. She had 5 assists, 3 blocked shots and 1 steal Monday against Leake.
MRA coach Stephen Force has moved Hughes down to the post some during the game, but she also has been handling the ball out front. She is one of the versatile players in the state.
“Presley has had a good week,” Force said. “She is a mismatch down low. Presley handles the ball so well and can dribble to the basket against a bigger girl who guards her. She made some good drives against East Rankin. And she’s a good free throw shooter and she will get to the line more playing in the post.”
Hughes did most of her scoring against one of the best post players in Mississippi, 6-3 junior Liz Stephens, a member of the Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Metro Jackson Elite 11 Team who has several Division I offers.
It wasn’t the first time Hughes has had a big scoring performance against East Rankin.
Hughes had a team-high 17 points (two short of her career high) and made six of six from the free throw line in the last two minutes of the game and led MRA to a 42-34 victory over East Rankin Academy in the first round of the Overall at Mississippi College in Clinton last season.
“Presley is a great player and a matchup nightmare for most people because she can play in the post and also handle the ball well as a guard,” East Rankin coach Brooke Rhodes said. “She’s a fun player to watch and see how she keeps getting better.”
“It’s always a fun matchup and we know it’s going to be a competitive game,” Hughes said. “We got off to a slow start, but our team has experience in games like this. We patient and got into better rhythm and once we took the lead we finished strong. We had some foul trouble in the second half, so we just focused on playing smart and stepping up when it counted most. It has been shift playing more down low this year after playing point guard the past two seasons and I’m working to get better. I’m excited about this season. We have a great group of girls and the team has been working hard. We’re off to a nice start, but it’s just the beginning and we need to keep improving.”
Hughes has been a part of a team went to three straight Overall championship games (winning as a sophomore) and three 30-win seasons and played in 12 Overall games in her career.
Hughes comes from an athletic family. Her father, Whit won two Overall basketball championships and one state baseball championship at Jackson Prep. He played five years of basketball and two years of baseball at Mississippi State. He was the sixth man on the 1996 Final Four team at MSU. Hughes’ mom Shelley was the starting point guard on the 1992 Overall championship team at Jackson Academy. Hughes’ brother, Phillip, played basketball at MRA and basketball at Tennessee-Martin and now at Delta State. Her brother, Pax, played football and baseball at MRA, played football at Southern Miss and now at Nicholls State. Hughes’ great grandfather, John Hughes, played football, basketball, and baseball at MSU in the 1940s. Hughes’ grandfather, Craig Foshee, played basketball, baseball and golf at William Carey and Millsaps.
“We played two great teams in a row and found a way to win,” Force said. “We played with effort and played good defense. Liz is a load inside and we did a pretty good job on her.”
MRA junior Anna Morgan Anderson – a member of the Preseason Elite 11 like Stevens – had 12 points, 4 assists and 2 steals.
Stevens led East Rankin with 19 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Senior guard Holly Jackson, a member of the Preseason Elite 11 Team who has committed to Copiah-Lincoln Community College in softball – added eight points.
“I thought that MRA did a great job of when we were up (11-2 lead in the first quarter), and kept battling and outworked us down the stretch,” Rhodes said. “This game was good for us. MRA is a great team and it’s always a fun matchup to start the year off with. It is going to be a fun season, and I’m excited to get rolling with our group. We have some things that we can go work on and we are going to do just that.”
