CLINTON — With all the chips in the middle of the table and emotions running high, this one was destined to end with tears.
The only question for Pillow Academy: Would they be tears of joy or heartbreak?
Fortunately for Pillow Academy — in its quest for a record-tying seventh girls MAIS Overall Tournament title — the tears were from joy.
The Durwin Carpenter-led Lady Mustangs soundly defeated Jackson Prep 57-37 Saturday at A.E. Wood Coliseum at Mississippi College for its fourth Overall crown in his 26-year tenure as coach. It had been 2005 since Pillow tasted victory at the highest level of private school basketball.
So did the savvy, veteran coach think it would be this dang easy?
“No, not at all,” said Carpenter, who reached over on the bench to hug longtime assistant Mignon Hodges with 1:35 to play and their team up by 22. “Everything really came together for us in the third quarter. Our girls were ready and hungry for this.
“Wow. This is a great feeling, one I had almost forgot how sweet it was.”
As Pillow spread the floor to burn clock with about three minutes to play, the large green and gold contingent got loud and proud. That was not lost on Carpenter.
“What can you say about these Pillow fans that hasn’t been said? They are by far the best,” he said, while holding two of his four grandchildren.
Outside of Greenwood, not many folks thought a run like this was even possible for this young PA team, starting five juniors with only one senior on the entire roster. But Carpenter, as he is known to do, pushed the right buttons at the right time.
PA junior Julia Love Lyon said the Lady Mustangs never lost faith after a tough start to the season against a tough schedule early on.
“We came in this week pretty optimistic,” said Lyon. “We knew we had a team capable of doing this. We just had to stay focused and stay in the moment.
“This is really surreal. We’ve worked so hard for so long to get here. It’s hard to find the words right now.”
After a close, hard-fought first half, the Lady Mustangs totally dominated Prep in the second half. Caroline Brock and Kaylee Jones made it happen, leaving the Lady Patriots to deal with the agony of defeat. Brock scored 16 of her game-high 24 points in the second half. Jones finished with 19 points.
In the first half, neither team came out hot, as both were shooting less 20% from the floors at the time. The score was tied at 2 until the 3:19 mark of the first period when Sarah Presley Howard hit two free throws. Prep responded with a 7-0 run, but Anna Taylor Hudson found a streaking Jones for a layup in heavy traffic to cut Prep’s lead to 9-6.
Prep led 11-8 at the end of the first period after a last-second basket by Olivia Sasser. The pace picked up quite a bit in the second once both teams found their shooting touch.
In a back-and-forth second quarter, there were three lead changes and two ties, but thanks to a putback by Jones, PA led 24-22 at the half. Jones had nine of her 19 points in the opening half. Brock sparked the Pillow offense in the second quarter by taking the ball to the basket.
Prep took a quick, brief 25-24 advantage. Jones and Brock made sure it was only a momentary deficit. Jones drained a deep trey and moments later scored from the post. Sandwiched in between was four points from Brock.
Jones continued to flourish with five straight points to hand PA its biggest lead up to that point at 39-28, at the 2:29 mark in the third. The Lady Mustangs led 43-31 at the end of the third, thanks to a last-second coast-to-coast layup from Howard.
There is a good chance the Lady Mustangs could be right back in the finals next season. All five starters are juniors, and Carpenter loses just one senior.
• Contact Bill Burrus at 581-7237 or bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
