Local Sports
Lady Red Panthers win 29-6; Coahoma County boys, girls can secure home playoff games with victories Thursday
By Josh Troy
Clarksdale Advocate
The Coahoma County High School boys and girls basketball teams are both in the playoffs, but they each have to win Thursday night to open at home.The No. 3 Lady Red Panthers (14-12, 7-3) play in the Region 3-2A District Tournament semifinals at 4 p.m. Thursday against No. 2 North Side at Riverside High School, with the winner securing a home playoff game next week. The two schools split the regular season series, with each team winning by 7 points.
Coahoma County earned a spot in the semifinals by defeating No. 6 Leflore County 29-6 on Tuesday.The Region 3-2A District Champion No. 1 seed Red Panthers (23-2, 10-0) will face No. 4 O’Bannon in the tournament semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Riverside, with the winner opening the playoffs at home next week.
While the Coahoma County boys earned a bye in the first round of the district tournament, the girls victory against Leflore County on Tuesday was “sloppy,” according to coach Derrick Moore. “It was really a sloppy, sloppy game,” he said. “It was a game full of turnovers and missed shots, but we just had a little more defense than they did.”
However, senior Zanedria Martin stepped up for the Lady Red Panthers with 11 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double. Senior Calvayuna Johnson stepped up on defense with 10 steals, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists for a double-double of her own. Coahoma County had an 8-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter and never relinquished the lead.
Junior Martia Crawford scored the first 2 points for the Lady Red Panthers. Martin scored 6 points and collected 8 rebounds during the third quarter as Coahoma County outscored Leflore County 10-0. Senior Armoni Redmon connected on a 3-pointer for the Lady Red Panthers during the fourth quarter.
Moore said the girls will have to play better on Thursday if they are going to beat North Side. Moore estimated the Lady Red Panthers shot 40% from the field against the Lady Tigers and said that number must improve on Thursday. “First of all, we’re going to have to score the ball much better than we did yesterday,” he said. “Defensively, we have to be stronger because they have kids who can score the ball.”
Moore said Coahoma County would have to create turnovers against North Side.Moore will also be expecting a strong defensive effort from the Red Panthers when they play O’Bannon. “Any team that I coach, we play defense first,” he said. “We’re going to have to play solid defense, and the scoring will take care of itself. If we play defense first, everything else will fall in line.”
The Red Panthers went undefeated in district competition during the regular season, but Moore reminded his athletes they must beat the Greenwaves on Thursday to open the playoffs at home. Moore reflected on the 2021-22 season when Coahoma County lost by 1 point to North Side in the district tournament championship and had to go on the road for the second round of the playoffs. Moore said he is looking for the boys to beat O’Bannon on Thursday and open the playoffs at home next week.
If the Red Panthers win on Thursday, they will be in the championship on Friday at Riverside. If they are able to win the district tournament championship and the first round of the playoffs, they will host a second-round game.
TOM WILLIAMS OF THE PANTHER REPORT CONTRIBUTED TO THIS ARTICLE.
Audrey Henderson
All details wasn’t accurate right because gaurd Armoni Redmon was in foul trouble had to sit out most of the time and she had 5 or more steals and had 6 or8 more points than just a 3 and she had 6 or more assist in the the game and 5 rebound don’t just highlights some of the player’s tell what they did and not others that had lots do with Win too