ROUND 3: Lady Hawks top South Gibson in 12-3A title game

ALL Winter

Ti’Mia Lawson and Albany Collins scored in double figures Thursday night as South Side beat visiting South Gibson 48-38 in the District 12-3A championship game.

Lawson finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Lady Hawks (19-2 overall). The junior forward was named tournament MVP.

Collins had 11 points, three rebounds and a steal. The junior guard was named district MVP of the regular season.

It was South Side’s third win of the season against SGC (21-6). Both teams advance to the region tournament as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively.

“It was a great battle from a great team,” said South Side coach Brent McNeal, who was named district coach of the year. “You expect nothing less from a team like that.”

South Side led 10-4 at the end of the first quarter and 22-18 at the half. Fifteen of SGC’s first-half points came from 3-pointers. SGC had eight 3-pointers in the game, including four by sophomore guard Hallie Allen. She finished with an SGC team-high 12 points and was joined in double figures by junior guard Alana Seals with 10 points.

“I’m glad our girls were about to shake off the rust off after being off for so long,” said McNeal, whose team last played Feb. 5. “It’s tournament time, so at this point the objective is to win by any means necessary. I think our kids fought for four quarters and we did just enough to win. Tomorrow we know that we must lock in for preparation for the next round.”

South Side’s Kaylyn Rogers scored nine points to go with 11 rebounds, three blocks and an assist. Jaidynn Askins had six points, four rebounds and three blocks. Other scorers were Jakarrah Anderson (2 points), Kimora Currie (3) and LeLe Cawthon (5).

It was South Side’s seventh consecutive appearance in a district tournament championship game. In McNeal’s 11-year tenure, the Lady Hawks are 5-2 with wins in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022 and runner-up finishes in 2018 and 2020.

LADY HORNETS – The South Gibson County Lady Hornets pose for a photo after Thursday’s championship game.

DISTRICT 12-3A AWARDS

REGULAR SEASON

MVP: Albany Collins (South Side)

COACH OF THE YEAR: Brent McNeal (South Side)

ALL-DISTRICT TEAM: South Side – Kaylyn Rogers, Ti’Mia Lawson, LeLe Cawthon, Jaidynn Askins. South Gibson – Hallie Allen, Lily Baggett, Alana Seals, Faith Reed. North Side – Kori Wilbourn, Kierstyn Beard, La’Asia Pirtle. Liberty – Cierra Jennings.

ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM: South Side – Bria Harris, LeLe Cawthon, Kaylyn Rogers, Camoni Turner. (These awards are available to seniors only with a GPA of at least 3.0.)

TOURNAMENT AWARDS

MVP – Ti’Mia Lawson (South Side)

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: South Side – Ti’Mia Lawson, Kimora Currie, Albany Collins, Kaylyn Rogers. South Gibson – Lily Baggett, Ellie Thetford. North Side – Kierstyn Beard. Liberty – Harmony Williamson.

ALL-TOURNAMENT: Named to the District 12-3A All-Tournament team were (from left) South Side’s Ti’Mia Lawson (MVP), Kimora Currie, Albany Collins and Kaylyn Rogers, South Gibson’s Ellie Thetford and Lily Baggett and North Side’s Kierstyn Beard. Not pictured: Liberty’s Harmony Williamson.

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