BAY SPRINGS — The Greenville Christian School girls basketball team fought to the bitter end Saturday night, but in the end the Lady Saints could not overcome a bad shooting night.
The Lady Saints’ fell 67-49 to Centreville in the championship game of the MAIS Class 2A State Championship on the campus of Sylva-Bay Academy.
Trailing by double digits entering the fourth quarter, GCS cut the Lady Tiger lead to seven points with three minutes left in the game. Soon, however, GCS leading scorer Tariyah Washington would foul out and all but end the Lady Saints’ hope of a comeback.
“We had one of the worst shooting nights that we have had all season,” Greenville Christian School coach Brother Sandifer said. “The shots were just not falling.”
Washington led the Lady Saints with 19 points in the game. Senior Williette Kingdom finished with 18 points.
The Lady Saints season then came to an end on Tuesday with a loss to Clinton Christian in the MAIS overall tournament.
Despite the season not ending how he would have hoped, Coach Sandifer called the season an unparalleled success. The Lady Saints finished the season with a 24-9 record, and they also advanced further than any team had in program history.
Coach Sandifer said he was especially proud of his four seniors; Williette Kingson, Jordyn Claiborne, A.K. Clary and Briyanna Palmer.
“I have never coached a group of girls who played with as much heart as they have,” Coach Sandifer said. “They never gave up in any game, and we played our best basketball in the last three weeks of the season.”
The Greenville Christian School Lady Saints won many accolades this season. Washington, for example, was named the Mississippi High School basketball player of the week two weeks ago by the website MaxPreps.com.
