Coldwater ends Hinds’ title run|[03/07/07]
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, March 7, 2007
JACKSON – Coldwater point guard Lanita Futrell led a dominating effort on the boards as the Lady Cougars (29-5) advanced to Saturday’s Class 2A state championship game with a 58-50 win over Hinds AHS at the Mississippi Coliseum.
The loss left the Lady War Dawgs (33-3) a game shy of the state finals for the second straight year and also snapped a 30-game winning streak.
Despite the loss, Hinds coach Bruce Baker thanked his eight seniors for a remarkable two-year run.
“This was a great group of seniors and they will go down as a special group at Hinds AHS. In two years, we had back-to-back 33-3 seasons. This team won 30 in a row after a 3-2 start and all three of the teams we lost to are either playing for a state championship or made it to the semifinals,” Baker said.
Hinds’ other losses came early in the season to 3A finalist South Pike and 3A semifinalist Raymond.
Leading 14-10 after the first quarter, Hinds struggled to keep Coldwater off the boards. They were outrebounded 14-4 in the second quarter and that allowed Coldwater to pull even and then go ahead.
Sondra Moncure’s 3-pointer with two minutes left before halftime gave Hinds its last lead at 21-18. A Rochelle Epps putback, a driving basket by Futrelll and two free throws from Waytasha Page put Coldwater ahead at the half 27-23.
Hinds outscored the Lady Cougars 7-3 to begin the third quarter, tying the game at 30. But a 3-pointer by Kishantta Hall and another by Futrell put Coldwater up 36-32. They led 42-36 going into the final quarter.
Hinds appeared to get the break they needed when Ashley Daniel picked up her fourth foul after an over the back call with 7:16 left. Futrell, though, was undeterred.
“It was time to step up,” she said.
She kept alive a missed Coldwater possession by grabbing a long rebound and then spotted up a wide open Kayla Davis for a key 3-pointer for a 48-40 lead with 4:40 left.
“Biggest shot of the game,” Coldwater coach Wert Spiva Jr. said. “Coming in, my chief concern with Hinds was whether we could keep the ball alive after a missed shot and keep them from doing the same. We did it because they (Hinds) had several one shot and done trips.”
Hinds was led by Moncure with 14 points and six rebounds. Junior Tanesha Clark had 13 points while Thomas finished with nine points and seven rebounds.