With a 55-46 road victory against Lumberton on Friday night, the Devilettes (22-2) have moved one step closer to making it to the Big House in Jackson.
The Simmons High School girls basketball team is now scheduled to play Taylorsville High School Thursday night in the MHSAA Class 1A State Quarterfinals. Thursday night’s game is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be played at Clinton High School.
“Our team is really starting to play with a lot of awareness. We lost our focus a little bit in the district tournament, but now they are really starting to understand how important each game is and how important each possession is,” Simmons head coach Bernita Alexander.
In their victory over Lumberton last Friday night, three Devilettes finished the game in double figures scoring. Sophomore Akiah Prince led Simmons with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Jamira Scott scored 10 points, and sophomore Vontasia Rush scored 11 points. Senior Taliyah Edwards added nine more points for Simmons.
After trailing 24-23 at halftime, Simmons took the lead for good against the Lumberton Panthers in the third quarter where they outscored the home team 17-8.
“We didn’t get frustrated and we took care of the ball in the third quarter. We also changed our strategy on defense in the second half and were able to play better defense on their best player,” Coach Alexander said.
Taylorsville will enter Thursday’s quarterfinal contest against the Devilettes with a 13-11 record, but despite her team having a better record, Coach Alexander said she expects a real tough game.
“From what I am seeing, they look a lot like a few of our district opponents. They have a couple kids who are aggressive and take the ball to the basket. We are going to have to make shots that we should make, and we can’t have any rushed shots,” Coach Alexander said.
