By Robert Wilson
Jackson Prep’s Taylor Caton has received headlines throughout her softball career, playing for Team Canada, being named the MAIS Class 6A Player of the Year and signing a Division I scholarship with the University of Memphis.
But Tuesday night on JA legendary coach Jan Sojourner Day, Caton was the player of the game and took charge leading defending MAIS Class 6A state champion Prep to a 55-35 victory over JA in a MAIS Class 6A game between two of the top 15 teams in Mississippi before an estimated 1,200 at JA’s Raiderdome on Jan Sojourner Court.
The 5-foot-10 senior guard scored a season-high 22 points, including five 3-pointers, and helped Prep pull away from JA, which was trying to win for Sojourner, the third winningest girls basketball coach in Mississippi history who was celebrated by the JA administration and former players between the girls and boys games.
Prep – ranked No. 14 in Mississippi by MaxPreps – improved to 20-6 overall and 5-2 in league play and avenged a 64-58 overtime loss to JA Jan. 10 at Prep. JA – ranked No. 15 in Mississippi by MaxPreps – dropped to 18-5 overall and 5-2 in league play.
Caton – who made 5 of 7 shots from 3-point range in the game – caught fire in the second quarter with a trio of 3-pointers in a two-minute stretch to lift Prep from a 16-8 deficit after one quarter to a 27-18 lead with 1 minute, 30 seconds to play before halftime.
JA never recovered. Prep led 27-20 at halftime, 40-26 after three quarters and stretched the lead to 22 in the fourth quarter.
Caton, who also had 3 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot, wasn’t only hot shooter for Prep, which shot 51.1 percent from the field (23 of 45) and 53.3 percent from 3-point range (8 of 15). Meg Barbour, a 6-1 junior center, made 7 of 11 shots from the field for 15 points with 10 rebounds, 5 blocked shots and 2 assists.
“I thought our girls played with great energy and great focus,” said Prep coach Michael McAnally, who has won 657 games (444 girls and 213 boys), and five state titles, two Overall titles and two Overall runner-up finishes, in 24 seasons, the last 11 at Prep. “We had seen several clips from our game 1 that we thought we could clean up and I thought we did a much better job of that on both ends of the floor tonight.
“Taylor got hot tonight from the three point and really sparked us offensively. We got 24 points from the three-point line and 30 points in the paint. That’s two really good numbers for us.”
“I think tonight our team played together and played really strong defensively thanks to our coaches’ great game plan,” Caton said. “We played with a chip on our shoulder after losing the last game in overtime and I couldn’t be prouder of the way our team played.”
Caton’s 3-point show was three short of the school record, set by Andie Flatgard with eight against Central Hinds during the 2021-2022 season.
“My main goal in any game is to help my team in any way I can and tonight that was from the 3-point line,” Caton said. “I’ve been in the gym more as we have started conference play and that along with having great teammates, we help me get open have made a big difference in my shooting.”
Sojourner has 1,051 wins, 10 state championships and a record six Overall Tournament titles in her brilliant 45 year coaching career, including 945 wins in 40 seasons at JA.
This was one of the few disappointing performances in a season where she has had one of the biggest turnarounds in Mississippi, going from two consecutive losing seasons to being one of the best teams in the state.
Prep had a lot to do with that. In the first meeting, JA junior guard Jayden Rhymes scored a career-high 28 points, including 24 in the second half. McAnally put 6-1 Barbour on the 5-6 Rhymes and slowed her down. She finished with four points.
“Jackson Prep made a difference tonight in the sense that we couldn’t hit some shots because they did a good job guarding us,” said Sojourner in an interview with Bryan Eubank and Tommy Barnette on the Raider Network. “Their length really bothered us tonight. That seems to give us problems when they are about a foot and a half taller than we are. They have great wingspan and that makes it tough. He put his taller player on my little guard and she didn’t have to be as quick as Jayden because of her length. That’s good strategy. They outplayed us in some areas tonight. Hats off to Prep, I thought they did a good job.”
Junior guard Aubrey Chambers led JA with 13 points.
