AAU Basketball State Champs Crowned

The last three weekends saw a heavy dose of hoop action as the different AAU state tournaments were spread out over those days. Five state champs were crowned in the 7th grade division thru the 11th division.

11th Grade Championship

Southern Phenoms 60 Marcrowe MSM4L 41

Coach Jeff Andrews' Southern Phenoms used a balanced attack to take home the title for the third straight year, adding it to the 16 and under and 15 and under titles they won the last two years. The Phenoms athleticism and length proved to much for Marcrowe MSM4L to deal with as they found points hard to come by. The Phenoms were led by Devonta Pollard with 14 points, while Gavin Ware and Deondre Haynes added 11 each. For Marcrowe MSM4L Tymond Howard was the only double figure scorer with 16 points.

Third Place Game:

MS Ballers 85 MS Hoop Dreams 81 OT

10th Grade Championship

Monroe Elite 61 Southern Phenoms 51

The Monroe Elite took home the title for this group for the second year in a row as their team effort proved too much for the Phenoms to handle.

Third Place Game

MBA Hoops Elite 67 NE MS Ballers 65

9th Grade Championship

MBA Hoops Elite 69 Jackson Tigers 62

Malik Newman exploded for 42 points as MBA Hoops pulled off down the stretch to take the title. The game was tied at 58 with just over 2 minutes left when Newman scored and got the and-one to put MBA up for good. Newman was supported by Rod Taylor with 11 points, who also did an outstanding defensive job on the Tigers top scorer, Reginald Johnson, holding him to 9 points.

Third Place Game

Desoto County Wildcats 63 Jackson Celtics 53

8th Grade Championship

MS Stars 84 MBA Hoops Elite 65

Newman was again outstanding in a title game has he had another 42 point outing, but the Stars' Jashere Hardnett scored 30 points and the Stars' length and size proved too much for the MBA to overcome as the Stars took control of the game in the second half pulling away from a 35-34 halftime lead to coast to the championship. With the win the Stars won the title with a 4-0 record in round-robin play. MBA Hoops finished 2nd with a 3-1 record and "Da House" Lighthouse finished 3rd at 2-2.

7th Grade Championship

The MBA Hoops took home the title with a 4-0 record over the weekend as the 7th grade championship was decided in round-robin play. The MS Stars finished 2nd and the Jackson Rattlers finished 3rd both with 2-2 records.