MHSAA State Tournament Finals Set

With the close of semi-final action on Thursday night, the preliminaries are over and it's time for the main event, the championship games. The match-ups for the championship games are set and there are a number of interesting championship game match-ups. The schedule is as follows:

On Thursday March 4th:

1:00 PM - 1A Girls Final - Myrtle vs McAdams

2:30 PM - 1A Boys Final - Ingomar vs McAdams

7:00 PM - 2A Girls Final - New Site vs Newton

8:30 PM - 2A Boys Final - Baldwyn vs West Bolivar

On Friday March 5th:

1:00 PM - 3A Girls Final - Belmont vs Ripley

2: 30 PM - 3A Boys Final - Forest vs Kemper County

7:00 PM - 4A Girls Final - New Albany vs Raymond

8:30 PM - 4A Boys Final - St. Stanislaus vs Bay St. Louis

On Saturday March 6th:

1:00 PM - 5A Girls Final - Wayne County vs West Jones

2:30 PM - 5A Boys Final - Provine vs Callaway

7:00 PM - 6A Girls Final - Horn Lake vs Greenville

8:30 PM - 6A Boys Final - Starkville vs Meridian

Top semi-final perfomances:

Boys

Zack Carnell, 6-7 center, Ingomar - 32 points and 12 rebounds in Ingomar's 70-56 win over Durant.

Lavadius Lyles, 5-9 guard, Forest - 29 points, six three point field goals, in Forest's 81-57 win over Holly Springs.

Daron Bell, 6-3 guard, Bay St. Louis - 22 points, 5 three point field goals, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 steals and 2 blocks in Bay High's 59-54 overtime win over Center Hill.

"Deville" Smith, 6-0 guard, Callaway - 28 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals in Callaway's 62-53 win over McComb.

Rashard Perkins, 6-5 forward, Starkville - 21 points, 14 rebounds, 7 blocks, 5 steals and 4 assist in Starkville's 66-51 win over Biloxi.

Girls

Janairrika Bland, 6-3 center, Raymond - 19 points and 16 rebounds in Raymond's 71-64 win over Lafayette County.

Jazmine Spears, 5-11 forward, New Albany - 26 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks in New Albany's 61-44 win over Northeast Lauderdale.

Breanna Lewis, 5-8 guard, Greenville - 41 points, 8 three point field goals in Greenville's 60-55 win over Harrison Central.

Jasbriell Swain, 5-10 guard, Horn Lake - 21 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals and 5 assist in Horn Lake's 56-39 win over Hattiesburg.

Other Semi-Final Notes:

The match-up between 6-9 Johnny O'Bryant of Cleveland Eastside and 6-7 Devonta Pollard of Kemper County did not disappoint. O'Bryant, a junior, had 19 points and 9 rebounds and led a Cleveland Eastside second half rally with 14 points and 8 rebounds in the second half. Pollard, a sophomore, had 17 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks and was a model of consistency with 9 points and 4 rebounds in the first half and 8 points and 4 rebounds in the second half. O'Bryant is already the object of recruiting interest from high major schools all over the nation while Pollard is the top ranked sophomore in Mississippi and is fast becoming a target of numerous high major programs.

Most Intriguing Championship Match-ups:

2A Girls- New Site vs Newton

4A Girls - Raymond vs New Albany

6A Boys - Meridian vs Starkville

Check back next week for our wrap-up from the "Big House". We'll name our all state tournament team and give out our all state tournament awards.