MCC Lady Eagles Set For Region 23 Tournament

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College Lady Eagles enter the 2012 Region 23 Basketball Tournament full of confidence. The Lady Eagles dominated the Miss-Lou Conference again with an 8-1 record and a three-game lead over second place Baton Rouge, the team feels like they are playing their best basketball of the season.

“That was by design,” said MCC head coach Hilary Allen. “We scheduled the best teams we could find early in the season and we took some lumps, but it made us a better team. I feel we are peaking at just the right time.”

The Lady Eagles are peaking at the right time of the season and are ranked number 12 in the nation in scoring average. The Lady Eagles are averaging 85.3 points per game since their 13-point victory at Jones County Junior Colleg on January 19.

“That game started us off on an amazing streak of 12 victories out of 13 games to push our record to 19-10 for the season,” said Allen. “We feel like we can play with anybody in the region.”

Most of those victories for the Lady Eagles were away from Graham Gymnasium and this is another aspect that gives the Lady Eagles confidence. Two of those victories were at Mississippi College. The Lady Eagles scored 60 points in the second half against Shreveport in the Mississippi College Coliseum and scored 52 points in the first half at Baton Rouge.

“Both of those gyms are quite bigger than Graham Gymnasium,” said Allen. “However, that extra space does not seem to bother our shooters.”

The Miss-Lou Conference plays their neutral site games at Mississippi College and several of the sophomores on the team feel like it is their home away from home. The Lady Eagles played two regular season games at Mississippi College last season and two this season, as well as three games in the Region 23 Tournament last season.

“This will be my eighth game at Mississippi College,” said MCC guard Norianna Haynes. “We feel real comfortable in that coliseum atmosphere.”

Haynes, an All-American Honorable Mention player from Northeast Lauderdale High School, should feel comfortable there. Haynes is averaging 23.7 points per game in the Mississippi College Coliseum during her collegiate career, including 12 points in overtime last year against East Mississippi in the semifinal game of the tournament. Another reason for extreme confidence is the play of sophomore forward Chasity Kearney. Kearney, during the last five games, has scored 26, 32, 33, 30 and 24 points in the five victories. Kearney is currently ranked eighth in the nation in scoring with a 19.3 average.

“Chasity has such great hands,” said Allen. “She grabs several offensive rebounds per game and catches every pass thrown her way. She is phenomenal around the basket.”

The guard play has also improved this season for the Lady Eagles. Freshmen Gelese Lampton and ReRe Stinner share the point guard responsibilities for MCC and they are a great combination.

“The shooting ability of Gelese and the speed of ReRe make it impossible for the other team to match up with them,” said Allen.

When most people think of the winning tradition and the past teams coached by Hilary Allen, rarely does anyone think of defense. The fast-paced, high- powered offense easily overshadows the hustle on the defensive end of the floor. Coach Allen is taking his eighth straight team to the Region 23 tournament and that is the longest current streak of any team in the region. This will also be his tenth team in 12 years at the helm of the MCC Lady Eagles to make the trip to Clinton.
The defensive hustle may be the key to the Region 23 Championship this year and Kia Morris starts at forward for MCC to bring that tough defensive presence to the floor. Morris will always guard the other team’s best player and takes pride in her defensive assignment on the floor.

“Kia loves defense and it keeps her on the floor,” said Allen. “She will defend the point guard or the post. It doesn’t matter to her.”

The second unit also loves to play defense. The Lady Eagles play full-court pressure defense for 40 minutes, but the heat really gets turned up when the second unit enters the game. Deanna Bolton, CalNitra White, Ashtin McNichols, Malaka Johnson and Keionna Gines take that pressure defense and turn it into full-court denial defense.

“The purpose of this unit is to wear down the other team,” said Allen. “They hustle their tails off and this keeps the first unit fresh for later in the game.”

The Lady Eagles play against Jones County on Wednesday at 1:00 at Mississippi College in the first round of the Region 23 Tournament.

“The young ladies feel this is their time to shine,” said Allen.