Three MCC Baseball Players Receive Preseason Honors

From School Reports

The 2012 Meridian Community College baseball season is just around the corner and three MCC players have already received preseason honors. Wade Wass, Jonny Youngblood, and Samuel Peterson have been ranked in the 2012 Perfect Game Top 100 JUCO Prospects in the country.

"Having three guys ranked in the top 100 players in the country speaks to the level of respect our program has gained nationally," said MCC head baseball coach Chris Curry. "It's also a compliment to Wade, Jonny, and Samuel for all their hard work. We look forward to them using their skills to help the Eagles compete for championships in the spring."

Sophomore catcher Wade Wass is the highest ranked player from MCC according to Perfect Game ranked at number 30. Wass has already committed to the University of Alabama and will look to build on a solid freshman campaign in 2010. Wass smashed 11 home runs last season for the Eagles and ended the year with a .370 batting average.

Jonny Youngblood is ranked at 52 according to Perfect Game and will look to make an immediate impact in the spring for MCC. Youngblood enters his first season with MCC and was drafted in the 30th round by the Atlanta Braves this past summer in the amateur draft. Youngblood will look to add speed and power to the top of the MCC lineup in 2012.

Samuel Peterson is ranked 83 according to Perfect Game and transferred to Meridian this season from LSU. Peterson will be a very valuable asset to the Eagles this spring and will see plenty of action at several different positions.

MCC Basketball Splits With Northeast Mississippi

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College Lady Eagles used a fierce second half run to secure an 84-76 victory over Northeast Mississippi Community College on Monday night at Graham Gymnasium. The Lady Eagles trailed Northeast Mississippi 41-35 at the end of the first half and used an early scoring run in the opening minutes of the second half to take its first lead of the game.

Chasity Kearney led the charge for MCC with a pair of baskets and Arnissa Galloway drained a pair of shots to give the Lady Eagles a 45-44 lead with 17:13 left in the game. The two teams swapped the lead for most of the second half, but Meridian would hold off the Lady Tigers for the victory.

Kearney led the Lady Eagles with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Galloway added 17 points and 17 rebounds. Gelese Lampton scored in double figures for MCC with 13 points and Norianna Haynes ended the night with 11 points. Amber Jackson led Northeast Mississippi with 17 points and Anna Brooke Page added 15 points for the Lady Tigers.

Meridian improved to 4-2 with the win and Northeast Mississippi dropped its overall record to 3-3 for the season. The Lady Eagles will return to action Saturday at home against Georgia Perimeter. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start at Graham Gymnasium.


Northeast (men) 80
MCC 78

The Tigers scored a basket in the final minute of play and held off a charge by Meridian to escape with a two-point victory. The Eagles held a 38-37 lead at the end of the first half and both teams swapped the lead for much of the second half, but the Tigers prevailed in the last minute of the game.

Goivanni Smith led the way for the Eagles with 21 points and Gentry Hines ended the game with 13 in the loss for Meridian. The Eagles dropped its overall record to 2-6 for the season and Northeast Mississippi improved to 6-0 with the road win.

MCC will return to action December 8 against Jones County Junior College at home with the game scheduled for an 8 p.m. start at Graham Gymnasium.

Easton Key Signs With Arkansas State

From School Reports

Meridian Community College golf standout Easton Key signed his letter of intent on Monday afternoon to continue his golf career with Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, AK. Key led the Eagles during the 2011 fall season to three tournament championships and a number one team ranking.

“We are very excited for him (Key) to get this opportunity to play at the next level,” said MCC head coach Clinton Hales. “He has performed so well in his time here at MCC and he was one of the biggest reasons for our success during the fall season. He is a very special player and we know he will have the same success at the next level of his golf career that he had at MCC.”

Key is the seventh ranked junior college player in the nation on GolfStat.com’s Top 100 NJCAA Player Watch List. Over his two-year career at Meridian, Key has been named to nine all-tournament teams and recorded three sub-70 rounds with a best of 65 at the 2010 Wallace State Invitational.  

He currently holds the team’s best average at 73 strokes per round and is a team captain.

He has led Meridian, ranked as the No. 1 NJCAA team in the nation by GolfStat.com and the NJCAA, to three tournament victories and two runner-up finishes, this fall.

“Easton is one of the top junior college players in the country,” said Arkansas State coach Steve Johnson. “He’s proven to be a very consistent player, being able to shoot sub-par rounds on a variety of courses. We are definitely looking forward to adding his tournament experience to what will be a relatively young roster next year.”

Key was named to three All-Tournament Teams during the 2011 fall season and led the team with a scoring average of 71.4, and tied an MCC record with a 65 during the second round of the Wallace State Fall Invitational. Key has been named to six career All-Tournament Teams and has helped MCC to a 166-24-1 record during his carrer.

Key attended Lamar School in Meridian, helping lead the Raiders to five consecutive state championships. He was a two-time all-state selection, carried the lowest average on the team and won the Raider Award as a senior. He also lettered in cross country for the Raiders.

Three MCC Baseball Players Sign For Next Level

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College baseball program continued its reach history of success by paving the future for three players on its current team. Wade Wass, Jackson Lowery, and Brandon Hallford all signed their national letters of intent to continue their careers Tuesday afternoon on the campus of Meridian Community College.

“We are very excited for these young men and their futures at the next level,” said MCC head coach Chris Curry. “These guys signed with three quality programs and we know that they will be very successful.”

Sophomore Wade Wass signed his letter of intent to play next season with the University of Alabama. Wass is a native of Pensacola, FL and attended Pensacola Catholic High School. Wass was third on the team last season with 11 home runs and collected 39 RBI. Wass batted .370 for the Eagles and played several different positions on the field in 2011 for Meridian.

Wass also played for Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers of the Northwoods League during the summer and earned the Rawlings “Finest In The Field” Award for being the top defensive catcher in the league. Wass will become the second player to sign with the baseball program at Alabama after Kenny Roberts signed with the Crimson Tide this past spring.

“We are very excited to have another member of the Meridian Community College baseball team to join our program here at the University of Alabama,” said Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard. “He (Wass) is a young man we feel can make an immediate impact with our team. He is a high character student-athlete with a desire to continue his development. He has a proven track record and we feel this will continue here at Alabama.”

Sophomore pitcher Brandon Hallford signed with the University of South Alabama on Tuesday and will look to make an immediate impact for the Jaguars. Hallford had a very successful freshman season in 2011 by making 20 appearances on the mound for the Eagles and collecting a 3-1 record. Hallford made most of his appearances out of the bullpen during the 2011 season, but made a pair of key starts on the mound in the postseason for the Eagles. Hallford is a native of Theodore, AL and attended Theodore High School.

Sophomore pitcher Jackson Lowery was the third and final player to sign his letter of intent Tuesday for the Eagles. Lowery has signed to continue his career with the University of Arkansas. Lowery transferred to MCC this season from the University of Central Arkansas where he was one of the key components in the bullpen. Lowery finished the 2011 season for UCA with a 4.66 ERA and recorded a 1-1 record, to go along with 15 appearances out of the bullpen. Lowery is a native of Little Rock, AR and attended Pulaski Academy.

MCC Sweeps Hinds

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College Lady Eagles had to mount a furious comeback in the second half of action Monday night to take a 95-80 victory over Hinds Community College at Graham Gymnasium. Meridian improved to 2-0 for the season and got another solid offensive night from sophomore Chasity Kearney to lead the way for MCC. Kearney finished the night with 23 points and 17 rebounds to lead the charge in the second half for the Lady Eagles.

“We played very well in the second half and I am proud of how hard we fought,” said MCC head coach Hilary Allen. “We got some great performances tonight and it was a great home victory early in the season for our team.”

Hinds held the lead at the end of the first half by a score of 46-43, but the Lady Eagles would begin to chip away at the lead in the opening minutes of the second half. MCC took its first lead of the second half with 16:45 left on a 10-0 scoring run to make the score 56-51. Kearney led the charge with a several baskets and one three-point bucket to give Meridian the five-point edge. The Lady Eagles built its lead to ten points later in the half on a pair of long jump shots by Norianna Haynes to make the score 61-51 with 12:23 left in the second half.

Hinds started to slowly make a comeback of its own to cut the score to 72-67 with 9:30 left in the game. Michelle Stewart hit a pair of three-point jumpers in the scoring run for the Lady Bulldogs, but Meridian would eventually find a way to hold on for the victory.

Freshman Gelese Lampton hit a pair of baskets and sophomore Kia Morris added a pair of buckets late in the half to build the Meridian to 82-71 with 7:37 left in the game. Meridian ran away with the rest of the game and forced several turnovers that led to easy baskets to make the final score 95-80.

Lampton ended the game with 17 points and Haynes ended her evening with 14 points. Carmen Smith led the way in scoring for Hinds with 22 points and Stewart ended the game with 18 points. Hinds dropped its record to 0-4 overall for the season.

The Lady Eagles return to action Thursday on the road at Wallace-Hanceville beginning at 5:30 p.m. MCC will return to Graham Gymnasium this Saturday against Coahoma beginning at 3 p.m.

MCC (men) 77
Hinds 70

First year MCC head coach Nathan Courtney secured his first coaching win for the Eagles with a hard fought seven-point victory over the Bulldogs.

Hinds held a slim 36-35 at the end of the first half and both exchanged the lead for a majority of the second half. The Bulldogs held the lead for most of the second half, but MCC would take the lead first one of first times in the second half. Timothy Jones drained a pair of baskets to give the Eagles a 64-63 lead with 3:59 left in the game.

The two teams swapped the lead for the next two minutes, but Nick Waters would give the Eagles its biggest spark of the night in the final moments of the game. The former Meridian High standout secured a three-point play for the Eagles with 1:44 left to make the score 71-68 in favor of MCC.

The Eagles added to its small lead moments later on a basket by Kevin Williams to make the score 73-68 with 1:11 left in the second half. MCC came up with two more stops on defense and secured the game from the free throw line to take its first win of the season.

Timothy Jones led the way for MCC with 14 points and Emmanuel Okoro added 13 in the victory for the Eagles. Waters finished the game for MCC with 11 points and Carlo McDonald led the Bulldogs in scoring with 17 points.

The Eagles return to action Thursday on the road at Wallace-Hanceville beginning at 7:30 and will return home this Saturday against Coahoma at 5 p.m.

MCC Basketball Schedule Change

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College basketball games scheduled for November 10 against East Mississippi Community College have been rescheduled for February 13 according to school officials. The games are still scheduled for 5:30 and 7:30 on the campus of East Mississippi Community College. The MCC Lady Eagles will return to action on November 14 against Hinds Community College at home beginning at 6 p.m. The Meridian Community College Eagles will return to the court this Saturday on the road at Marion Military Institute beginning at 7 p.m. The Eagles will return to Graham Gymnasium November 14 against Hinds Community College.

The Lady Eagles are currently 1-0 after an 87-73 victory earlier this week over Alabama Southern and the MCC men are currently 0-1 after a 71-68 loss at the hands of Alabama Southern.

MCC Basketball Splits With Alabama Southern

From School Reports

The Alabama Southern Community College Eagles spoiled the debut of first year Meridian Community College head coach Nathan Courtney with a 71-68 victory at Graham Gymnasium on Monday night. The Eagles had several opportunities late in the game to seal its first victory under the direction of Courtney, but Alabama Southern was able to hold off several MCC scoring runs late in the game.

“We are just a very immature and selfish team right now this early in the season,” said Courtney. “We just didn’t make shots when we needed to and it is a very tough way to start the season.

Alabama Southern carried a 35-31 lead into halftime, but MCC battled back behind the superb play of a pair of newcomers. Goivanni Smith drained a three-point basket and Nick Waters added a pair of free throws to bring MCC to with striking distance at 39-38 with 16:37 left in the game. Waters continued his hot shooting moments later with a jumper to give the Eagles a 40-39 edge with 15:37 left in the second half.

MCC opened its largest lead of the game with a three point bucket from Kevin Williams to give the Eagles a 55-49 advantage with 9:37 left in the second half. Alabama Southern battled back later in the half to take the lead away from Meridian on a pair of three point shots by Kendrick Atwood to give the visiting Eagles a 60-5lead with 5:44 remaining in the game.

Alabama Southern built a lead as large as six points, but Meridian fought back late in the second half to take the lead from the visiting Eagles. Williams drained a wide open three-point basket to give MCC a 66-65 lead with 1:51 left in the game.

The two teams exchanged the lead three separate times, but Alabama Southern scored a basket from Rodney Williams with 37 seconds left to take a 69-68 lead over Meridian. The Eagles had one last defensive stand in the final 20 seconds as Kaylim Noel came up with a huge steal at half court to set-up the final shot of the game for MCC. Waters drove to the basket for a jumper to give MCC the lead, but the former Meridian High standout came up short to keep the score at 69-68 with 14 seconds left. Alabama Southern drained a pair of free throws to take a three-point lead, but MCC would come up empty in its final shot to fall to Alabama Southern 71-68.

Williams led the way in scoring for Meridian with 20 points and Smith added 14 points in the tough home loss for MCC. The Eagles will return to action this Saturday on the road at Marion Military Institute at 7 p.m.

MCC (women) 87
Alabama Southern 73

The Meridian Community College Lady Eagles opened the 2011-2012 season with an impressive 87-73 victory over Alabama Southern at Graham Gymnasium Monday night. The Eagles got several huge performances on the offensive end of the floor, but the biggest night belonged to sophomore Chasity Kearney of the green and white. Kearney scored a team-high 25 points to lead the way for the Lady Eagles in the opening game of the season.

“We played well for our first game of the season and I thought that we got a little tired late in the game,” MCC head coach Hilary Allen said. “We shot the ball very well in the second half and made some things happen. It was a great first game for our team and we had some players with some great nights on both sides of the floor.”

Meridian struggled out of the gates and trailed Alabama Southern 18-15, but the Lady Eagles scored 15 unanswered points to take a 30-18 lead with 10:12 left in the first half. Kearney led the way with during the 15-0 for the Lady Eagles with six points and Norianna Haynes had four points during the scoring spurt for MCC.

Alabama Southern chipped away at the Meridian lead by closing the margin to 40-35 with 3:11 left in the first half, but the Lady Eagles would go another impressive run just before the end of the half. Deirda Hawkins and Kearney each scored a basket to extend the lead to 44-35 with just under a minute to play in the half, but Gelese Lampton added a three-point bucket just before the buzzer to give MCC a 48-35 lead at halftime.

Alabama Southern opened the second half on a small scoring run to close to within five points, but Meridian would run away with the game in the second half to claim the 87-73 victory. Haynes added 15 points and Lampton scored in double figures with 12 points.

The Lady Eagles return to action next Monday at home against Hinds Community College at 6 p.m.

MCC Golf Ends Fall Season

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College golf team ended the 2011 fall season with a second place finish Tuesday in the Central Alabama Community College Fall Invitational. MCC finished the tournament with a 5-over par 581 team score which was 19 strokes back of Central Alabama which captured the tournament championship. The Eagles ended a very successful fall season with three tournament wins, two second place finishes, and a pair of number rankings under the direction of first year head coach Clinton Hales.

“We are very pleased with our overall fall season,” said Hales. “We are of course very disappointed in the way we finished the fall part of the season, but we played some very good teams this week. We give a lot of credit to Central Alabama and the way they played on their home course.”

Sophomore Easton Key led the Eagles in the two-day event with a 5-under 139 score to earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team for the CACC Fall Invitational. The former Lamar standout earned All-Tournament Team honors on three different occasions during the fall season for the Eagles.

Freshman T.J. Morgan fired a 1-under 143 to finish tied for fourth place in the tournament for Meridian.

2011-2012 MCC Men's Basketball Preview

From School Reports & The Meridian Star

Nathan Courtney enters his first season as the head basketball coach at Meridian Community College and the excitement is building for the open of the 2011-2012 season for the Eagles. The Eagles finished the 2010-2011 season with a 19-11 overall record and the picture is a little unclear for MCC coming into the new season, but Courtney is pleased with the support for the program.

“Anytime you come into a new situation, it’s important to have the support and the backing of the people that have hired you,” Courtney said. “I’ve had unbelievable support from the people.”

Courtney comes to Meridian from Indian Hills Community College where he served as assistant coach for the Warriors. IHCC won 84 percent of its games and averaged 29 wins a season while Courtney was on the staff, and made a pair of appearances in national tournament.

Now with the Eagles, Courtney has set about changing the image of the Eagles basketball team, and it begins in the classroom.

“When you are at a new program, the biggest thing is changing the culture,” Courtney added. “When we wake up we do breakfast check and I personally run study hall for the guys that aren’t in class. I make sure they’re doing the academic side of it and it’s not just basketball here.”

Heading into the 2011-2012 season the Eagles will take a multi-dimensional approach on the hardwood. Defensively, MCC will use a variety of defenses, ranging from a zone to a man-to-man.

"You better be able to do everything," Courtney said. "We will be, primarily, a man-to-man defensive team, get back and protect the basket. However, if you have to press, you press; if you have to play zone, you play zone. We have all that in now where we can press, man, zone, three-quarter court press; 2-2-1 press; Diamond and one press.

"You got to be able to run, jump, scramble. Physically, you put in what you think your players can take. Mentally, you pack as much as you can into their brains because you don't know what you're going to need at a particular time.”

The 2011-12 Eagles team will feature a mixture of veteran and newcomer talent. This year's team will be led by a trio of sophomore transfers — Kaylim Noel, Kevin Williams and Giovanni Smith.

Joining them are a couple of guys that sat out last year, Trent Tucker and Gentry Hinds. Throw in a freshman class led by former Meridian High guard Nick Waters and the team will be exciting to watch this season.

"I'm really excited about Nick,” Courtney said. “He's easily one of our better guards.

"The thing about Nick is he understands pace. He's not a ‘Go, Go, Go’ type of player or running around like a chicken with his head cut off. He can stop, pivot, find a shooter that's spotted up on the perimeter. He doesn't turn it over a lot and has an unbelievable control of the game."

The Eagles are scheduled to begin the home portion of its 2011-2012 schedule November 7 against Alabama Southern at Graham Gymnasium. The Eagles will tip-off at 8p.m.

2011-2012 MCC Women Basketball Preview

From School Reports & The Meridian Star

For the Meridian Community College women’s basketball team, watching Copiah-Lincoln celebrate a Region 23 Championship last season was a bittersweet pill to swallow. However, with a new season comes new opportunities and, for the Lady Eagles, the time is now.

“We were extremely disappointed last year,” MCC coach Hilary Allen said. “But through disappointment comes resolve. Each member of this team has worked harder to make this a better team.”

The Lady Eagles finished the 2010 season with 27 victories and was led by one of the better freshman classes in the region. In 2011, those freshman are now sophomores and make the Lady Eagles a favorite to repeat as Miss-Lou Conference Champions.

“Having four sophomores in the starting lineup is a big plus,” Allen added. “Having more sophomores coming off the bench with 33 games experience is a big plus as well.”

The Lady Eagles come into the season led by former Northeast Lauderdale star Norianna Haynes, who averaged 20 points per game as a freshman. Haynes finished the 2010 season as an All-American honorable mention. Joining Haynes on the court this year is Miss-Lou Conference MVP Chasity Kearney, who averaged 19 points and 10 rebounds, Arnissa Galloway, who averaged 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Kia Norris. Norris missed the first half of last season because of eligibility issues but came on board for the second half of the year.

Joining the sophomores is another talented freshman class led by Gelese Lampton from Hattiesburg and Ashtin McNichols from Newton High School.

The Lady Eagles are scheduled to open the home portion of its 2011-2012 season against Alabama Southern November 7 at Graham Gymnasium. The MCC women are set to tip-off at 6 p.m.

MCC Golf In Second Place At CACC Invitational

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College golf team finds themselves in second place after day one of the 2011 Central Alabama Community College Fall Invitational being held at Willow Point Country Club in Alexander City, Alabama. The top ranked Eagles struggled to a 2-over par 290 team score (best four out of five) to trail host Central Alabama by seven shots with 18 holes left to play. The Eagles were led by Freshman T.J. Morgan who shot 2-under par 70, which was also good enough for 2nd place individually. Meridian native Easton Key also carded another under par round as he posted a first-round score of 71. Alex Grannon, Dylan Brown, and Jake Stirling shot 74, 75, and 76 respectively.

"We weren't as sharp as we have been playing, especially on the greens. We had quite a few three-putts, but the good news is that we are well within striking distance of the leaders, but we will have to play a lot better tomorrow to have a chance to win" said first-year head coach, Clinton Hales.

MCC tees off at 9:20 on Tuesday with 18 holes scheduled to be played. The Eagles are looking for their fourth victory out of five tournaments on the season