By Robert Wilson
CLINTON – Longtime Simpson Academy girls basketball coach Linda Dear hasn’t been to the championship game of the MAIS Overall Tournament since 1996 when she led her Lady Cougars to a runner-up finish to Jackson Academy and legendary coach Jan Sojourner.
Until now.
Dear – who has said this is one of the best teams she has ever coached in her 40-year head coaching career, 23 of those at Simpson – guided her team to their ninth consecutive playoff victory with a 57-46 win over Jackson Academy in the Overall semifinals Tuesday afternoon before an estimated 1,800 at Mississippi College’s A.E. Wood Coliseum/Mike Jones Court.
Class 4A, Division I champion Simpson Academy – ranked No. 6 in Mississippi and No. 2 in the MAIS – improved to 30-5 and meets Madison-Ridgeland Academy for the Overall championship Tuesday at 6 p.m. MRA – ranked No. 5 in Mississippi and No. 1 in MAIS – defeated East Rankin Academy 57-43 in Monday’s other semifinal.
Simpson has lost twice in three meetings with MRA, losing 46-27 Jan. 13 at MRA and 56-55 in overtime Jan. 30 at Simpson and winning 48-46 Feb. 5 at the Class 4A South State tournament at Copiah Academy. Simpson made an incredible, 24-point comeback victory in the South State win as senior guard Jayda Smith completed the comeback with a 5-foot jumper in the lane with 11 seconds to play. Simpson’s last loss was to MRA in its last regular season game.
Simpson will trying to win its first Overall championship in school history.
JA – ranked No. 48 in Mississippi and No. 8 in the MAIS – finished 21-13 under first-year coach Henry Gantz, who replaced Sojourner, who retired as the third winningest girls coach in Mississippi history after 45 years, the last 40 at JA. It was JA’s first Overall appearance since 2023.
Simpson led JA the majority of the game, ahead 14-9 after one quarter, 30-25 at halftime (JA did tie it at 25-25), and 41-36 after three quarters.
“Once again, my girls refuse to lose,” said Dear has 677 career wins to go along with five state championships, all at Simpson. “Maggie (Shivers) did an outstanding job on (JA’s Aubrey) Chambers all afternoon. We felt like that was key to beating them. The other girls just did their job on defense. Since practice started last spring we have talked about winning a state championship. We knew how hard we had to work to do that, but the girls were willing to pay that price. I have reminded them numerous times that we had not been to the Overall since 2021. I challenged them to change that. Our whole school and our surrounding communities have gotten behind us and really pumped us up. We are proud to be playing for the Overall championship, and we are going to do our best to represent our schools and fans well. MRA has a great team, and it should be a great game and a fantastic environment tomorrow night.”
Smith – a Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College softball signee – had 21 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists to lead Simpson. Freshman Elle McNulty – who scored a career-high 42 points in Simpson’s first round Overall win over Ben’s Ford, La., – had 11 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot. Shivers had 10 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. Brooke Blackledge had eight rebounds.
“We knew going Into this game what was at stake,” Smith said. “Our goal was to make it to the Overall championship. We came out with energy on defense, which translated to our offense. Not only did the starters play well, but even the girls who came off the bench stepped up and made some big plays. Now, we plan to take our final step to win Overall tomorrow.”
“We fought hard as a team and never gave up,” Shivers said. “We knew we could win as long as we worked together and stayed focused. This team is not just a regular team. We are family, and we always play as one. From the start, we knew we not losing this game. We were determined to leave everything on the court, and that’s exactly what we did.”
“Going into today’s game against JA, we knew they were a really strong team, so we focused on bringing energy and we played with heart until the finish,” Simpson junior forward Aniston Bass said. “We trusted our coaches, we had each other’s back, and everyone contributed in their own way tonight. This win means a lot to our school and our community, and we’re not done yet.”
Junior forward Myles Maurer led JA with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot. Junior Avery Buchanan had 11 points and seven assists. Senior guard Aubrey Chambers had nine points and four rebounds. Senior guard Jayden Rhymes had a team-high seven assists.
Gantz has won 331 girls and 192 boys games in 19 seasons with stops at Briarfield (La.) Academy (boys and girls for three years), Central Private (La.) (girls for three years and boys for two), Copiah Academy (boys for two years and girls for one), and Central Hinds Academy (girls for 10 years and four for boys). He won 241 girls games and two state titles at Central Hinds.
Gantz was in the Overall semifinals for the third consecutive season. He took Central Hinds to back to back Overall semifinal appearances after winning the first two state championships in school history in 2024 and 2025.
“I thought our girls did everything to win the game, but we didn’t box out well, that surprised me because we normally do a good job of rebounding,” Gantz said. “I’m proud of the fight though. This season has been a rollercoaster, but I’m proud of our seniors for pulling it together to make a special run. As Aubrey said, no one thought we would make it this far. I wanted the girls to experience the overall and they got more experience than I expected. It was awesome, and I can’t wait for be back next year.”
