By Staff
Somebody had to be first
The first ever football champion to be recognized by the Mississippi Private School Association was Indianola which took a 21-7 win over Fayette for the Class AA crown in 1970.
No Class A champions were recognized until 1972 and Jackson Prep won the first AAA title without the benefit of a playoff in 1971. Play did not begin in Class AAAA u until 1986.
The first Class A champion was Strider, which defeated Heidelberg Academy 34-6 in 1972.
Austin Bishop
Track meet to have three divisions
The Alabama High School Athletic Association State Indoor Track Met is set for Feb. 1-2 at the Valley Sports Coliseum in Priceville.
The meet will be broken down into three divisions, instead of the two that was printed in the 2002 AHSAA Winter Sports book.
The competition will be for classes 1A-4A, 5A and 6A. The meet begins at noon on Feb. 1 with the 3200 meter run finals and the four field events. The last event of the day is the 800 meter relay finals at 4:45 p.m.
The meet picks back up the next day on Saturday morning at 9:30 and concludes at 5:25 p.m. with the awards presentation.
Austin Bishop
Southern Choctaw Indians on hot streak
The Southern Choctaw Indians knocked off Choctaw County 63-52 recently to extend their winning streak to eight games.
Southern Choctaw, 10-2, got 18 points from Marlon McMillian, 12 from Bernard McGrew, and 10 from Larry Campbell.
Hashim Dixon led Choctaw County with 10 points.
– Marty Stamper
Noxubee County boys in Magic City tourney
The Noxubee County Tigers went 1-1 in the Magic City Classic in Birmingham, Ala., last week. The Tigers opened with a 44-30 win over the Ramsay JV team, then lost 54-47 to Jackson-Olin.
Jackson-Olin improved to 7-10 after starting 0-5 with an extended football season and some players out with injuries.
Noxubee got 16 points from Delvin Young and 12 from Omar Conner against J-O.
J-O eventually won the championship without having to score in the finals. The Mustangs were scheduled to face Wheeler High of Marietta, Ga., for the title, but Wheeler had to forfeit as a Georgia rule prevents a school from playing more than one game in the same day.
As a courtesy to the fans, Woodlawn played J-O in what would have been the main event. It was the third game of the day for Woodlawn.
– Marty Stamper
MPSA Central Mississippi Classic team named
Quite a few area athletes were chosen to the all-tournament basketball teams in the MPSA Central Mississippi Classic at East Central Community College last week.
Girls chosen were Greggina Tadlock and Kristin Caldwell of Leake Academy, Blair Johnson and Jessica Harpole of Kemper Academy, Leslie Hancock of Central Academy, Casey McMahan of Newton County Academy, Myleia Shirley of Lamar School, Kassie Buck of Indianola Academy, Mary Claire Cadenhead of Washington School, Ashley Johnson of Starkville Academy and tournament MVP Jessica Wall, also of Starkville Academy.
Making the boys' team were Drew Wolverton and Luke Culpepper of Leake Academy, Adam Davis of Kemper Academy, Blake Bass of Heidelberg Academy, Caleb Metts of Winston Academy, Wil Bean of Newton County Academy, Glenn Ulrich of University Christian, Will Dottley of Washington School, Joby Garner and Andrew Pylate of Starkville Academy and tournament MVP Ed Phillips, also of Starkville Academy.
– Marty Stamper
Former players now coaching in prep ranks
Among the former college basketball players who now coach high school teams that have played in the area recently are David Midlick, who coaches both the boys and girls at Washington School, and Al Perry, who coaches the Pearl Pirates.
Midlick played at Ole Miss in the 1990s, while Perry played at Mississippi State in the late 1970s.
State players must be popular in Rankin County as former Bulldog Greg Carter leads the Brandon Bulldogs.
– Marty Stamper