Because of their success this season, the Lady Broncos were able to move up the ladder and compete in two tournament games and a championship game in December.
On Monday, Dec. 14, the Lady Broncos went into the tournament as the number one seed and defeated the Hamilton County Lady Trojans with a final score of 43-20. In the first half, the Lady Broncos got an early lead, going on a 23-3 run over the Lady Trojans and taking advantage of turnovers made by the Lady Trojans, with key points scored by Lasage Ferguson, Kenyia Davis and Kamia Henderson.
In the second half, the Lady Broncos continued to dominate the court, combining great offense and defense to remain undefeated and knocking the Lady Trojans out of the playoffs. Ferguson had a career high of 24 points. Davis added seven points, Henderson and Zharia Norwood added four points, Jalyric Stevenson added two points and Keishana Jonas added one point.
On Tuesday, Dec. 15, the Lady Broncos continued their success with a 37-18 win over the Taylor County Lady Bulldogs to advance to the championship game. The Lady Broncos defense moved at a quick pace all night, controlling the tempo allowing them to take advantage of easy scoring off of turnovers. They continued to dominate throughout the first half going on an 18-9 run.
In the second half, the Lady Broncos didn’t let up. They continued to play great defense and take full advantage of turnovers, scoring a total of 19 points in the second half. Ferguson scored 21 points to lead the Lady Broncos in scoring. Norwood scored eight points, Henderson added four points and Davis and Stevenson both added two points.
The Lady Broncos took on the Marianna Middle School Lady Bullpups on Thursday, Dec. 17 for the Big Bend Conference Championship. The Lady Broncos started off strong in the first half, scoring 21 points, while only giving up 12 points. Norwood went six for eight from the free-throw line in the first half of play, contributing to the Lady Broncos lead. Team defense led to the Lady Broncos holding a nine point lead. Marianna would not give; they held the Lady Broncos to only two points in the third quarter and cut the lead to five points, but the Broncos rallied in the fourth quarter to score 11 points with two big three point shots by Ferguson and some crucial free throws by Norwood. Ferguson, who was two for three from the free-throw line, and Norwood, who was nine for twelve from the free-throw line, led scorers with 15 points each; Davis added four points for a total of 34 points. The defense for the Broncos was tenacious all night, only allowing 12 points each half. The Lady Broncos won against the Marianna Bullpups with a final score of 34-24.
A big congratulations goes out to the MCCS Lady Broncos for the most successful season ever. This is the only time the girls basketball team has ever gone undefeated and won the championship.
The team consisted of eighth graders: Kenyia Davis, Lasage Ferguson, Jalyric Stevenson, Zharia Norwood and Da’myah Johnson; seventh graders: Kamia Henderson, Nigeria Wooten, Ah’zeria Francis, Ken’naya Richardson, Damesia McQuay and Keishana Jonas; and sixth grader, Terra Butler. Managers were Jalisa Daniels and Essence Hampton.
The MCCS Lady Broncos are now Big Bend Conference Champions! The Lady Broncos ended the 2015-2016 season with a perfect record of 13-0, under first year Head Coach Kimberly Gore, defeating two teams in the single elimination tournament to advance to the Championship game.
“As a first year Head Coach, this made my first year experience a great one,” said Assistant Head Coach Kimberly Gore. “I enjoyed every minute of it!”
What a fantastic way to end the season, Lady Broncos! Here's to next year.