By Robert Wilson
Defending MAIS Overall Tournament champion Parklane Academy girls started out the 2025-2026 basketball season the way they finished last season with star players Zoe Alford and Carlyle Carruth leading Parklane to a victory.
Alford scored 21 points and Carlyle added 14 points as Parklane defeated Jackson Academy 51-43 in the Central Hinds Academy tournament Tuesday night at Central Hinds in Raymond.
In addition to the defending Overall champions’ season opener it was also a historic opening game for JA. For the first time in 40 years, Jan Sojourner was not coaching the Lady Raiders.
Sojourner – the third winningest high school girls basketball coach in Mississippi history with a MAIS record six Overall titles – retired this past season.
Former Central Hinds coach Henry Gantz replaced Sojourner.
The last game Parklane played before Tuesday night was also in Hinds County and played in front of much bigger crowd with a lot more in the line.
And the fans saw a miraculous comeback.
Parklane missed its first seven shots from the field, didn’t make a field goal for the first seven minutes and missed 16 of its first 17 shots from the field before catching fire and storming back from a 11-point deficit early in the fourth quarter for a 45-42 victory over Madison-Ridgeland Academy for the Overall title before an estimated 1,200 at Mississippi College’s A.E. Wood Coliseum in Clinton.
Alford and Carruth combined for 21 points in the fourth quarter. Alford finished with 21 points and Carlyle 15 points to give Parklane its second Overall in history and first since 1993.
Parklane didn’t need the huge comeback Tuesday night like they did in late February, but it wasn’t easy to put away JA.
Parklane led 12-11 after one quarter, 26-19 at halftime and 36-25 after three quarters.
The 5-foot-7 Alford made 7 of 11 shots from the field, 3 of 4 from 3-point range, and 4 of 4 from the free throw line and had 4 rebounds and 1 steal. The 5-11 Carruth – the niece of former Parklane, University of Alabama and NFL running back Paul Ott Carruth – had 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot to go along with her 14 points. Senior forward and Southern Miss softball commitment Anna Sawyer had a game-high 14 rebounds and eight points.
“Overall, I was pleased with our performance,” said Parklane coach Vicki Rutland, who played high school basketball just a few miles away at Forest Hill High for current Madison St. Joseph coach Tommy Groves, played softball and was a cheerleader at Delta State and has coached basketball, softball and has been an athletic director at Lumberton, West Marion, Northeast Jones, and Lawrence County before coming to Parklane five years ago. “We ran the floor well considering we’ve only had our softball players for a few short weeks. Of course, we were a little sloppy in the opening minutes, but once we settled down I was encouraged by our team style of play. Everyone knows their role and embraces it and that’s what it takes to beat a talented team like JA. Zoe Alford and Anna Sawyer provided tremendous senior leadership. Their maturity and basketball IQ is crucial to our team’s success this season. Carlyle Carruth and (sophomore guard) Lay Jackson led us defensively and made all the difference in our game plan. We wanted to slow down (JA senior guard Jayden) Rhymes and (JA senior guard Aubrey) Chambers and push them out of their scoring range because we knew we couldn’t win if they got on a roll.
“(Sophomore guard) Mady Rayborn and (junior guard-forward) Lexi Lott (replacing graduates Sydney Brewer and Jaden Hall) stepped into their roles nicely and played with a lot of confidence. If you add (sophomore guard) Brenley Caston to that, we have a lot more depth than we had last year. Although I know we have a lot more to work on as the season progresses, I’m pleased with the season opener. The first things that we are going to work on are free throw shooting and not collecting unnecessary fouls. After that, we will take it one game at a time. Playing (Jackson) Prep next (Thursday at Prep in Flowood) doesn’t give us much time to celebrate or analyze the JA game, so we will work hard and push forward.”
“It felt really great to be back on the court with my team,” said Alford, who has played for JA coach Henry Gantz on the Mississippi Jazz AAU team for several years. “The feeling was awesome. Overall, I think we played good for it being our first game, but there is obviously a lot of stuff we need to continue to work hard on. JA ia a great team and is very well coached but our team showed up ready to go and wanted to set the tone early for the season. We know we have a new target on our backs for this season so we just want to continue working hard and improving as the season goes along.”
“We were excited to be back on the floor together,” said Carruth, who already has one Division I offer (Southern Miss) and many others who are showing interest. “We have not allowed the success of last year to change the way we have prepared. We worked hard in the offseason and we are working harder than ever getting ready to compete together this year. We had a bit of a rough start last night – first game jitters – but stayed focused and played hard grabbing the win against a good JA team. We have some things to clean up but I am excited about this season with my team. We are focused on our goal.”
JA was led by Chambers with 16 points. Sophomore forward Mylee Mauer had eight points. Rhymes – a member of the Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Metro Jackson Elite 11 Team – senior guard Ella King and sophomore Kinlee Lutkin had five points each.
Gantz, an Indianola Academy and Ole Miss graduate, has won 502 games, 310 girls and 192 boys, 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) as he starts his 19th season as a head coach. He won 241 girls games at Central Hinds and led the lady Cougars to back to back MAIS Class 4A state championships and the Overall semifinals twice in the past two seasons.
“Our girls played really hard for the majority of the game,” Gantz said. “A few times we lost focus in transition defense and Zoe Alford made us pay. I am disappointed we lost but I’m very optimistic about where this team will be in a month. For my first game, I thought the fans were great, our AD (athletic director Brandt Walker), our varsity boys and coaches traveled to watch us play. That meant a lot. I am very proud to be part of Jackson Academy.”
Gantz goes for his first win Thursday night when JA plays host to Brookhaven Academy, led by 5-8 junior guard Anne Rylea Thurman, daughter of former Brookhaven Academy star Chris Thurman, who still holds the Overall boys record for most points in a championship game (54 in a triple overtime win over MRA in 1989). Anne Rylea is averaging 19 points per game.
