Area teams start state basketball tournaments
Basketball state tournaments are beginning this week for area teams, with multiple teams eyeing hardware at the end of the season.
The Germantown girls will open the MHSAA 7A state tournament on Friday night on the road against Oxford, after finishing third in the Region 2-7A tournament.
Both the Madison Central and Germantown boys basketball teams qualified for the MHSAA 7A state tournament. The Mavericks finished as the runner-up in the Region 2-7A tournament, after winning the region’s regular season title, and will host Oxford on Saturday night. Madison Central finished third in the Region 2-7A tournament and will travel to take on Southaven on Saturday night.
The Ridgeland boys team beat one of the state’s best teams in Columbus in the Region 2-6A championship game and will enter the MHSAA 6A state tournament as a one seed. The Titans will host Lake Cormorant on Saturday night to open their state tournament journey.
Canton saw both their boys and girls teams win Region 2-5A tournament championships and will both enter the MHSAA 5A state tournament as one seeds. The Lady Tigers will host Lafayette on Friday, while the boys team will host Clarksdale on Saturday night.
After winning their opening game of the MHSAA 2A state tournament over Amite County, the St. Andrew’s boys will move onto the Sweet 16. The Saints will be on the road for their second state tournament game, as they will travel to take on Bay Springs.
Both the Velma Jackson boys and girls teams picked up wins in the first round of the MHSAA 1A state tournament and will play in the Sweet 16 this weekend. The Lady Falcons will travel to take on Lumberton on Friday night, while the boys will host South Delta on Saturday night.
In MAIS 6A, the state tournament semifinals are set. On the girls side, Jackson Academy picked up a win in the first round over St. Joseph and will face rival Jackson Prep on Friday at 2:15 PM, while MRA will play PCS in the other semifinal on Friday at 1 PM.
On the boys side, St. Joseph knocked off MRA in the first round and will play Jackson Academy on Friday at 6 PM, while Jackson Prep will take on Hartfield Academy on Friday at 7:15 PM in the other semifinal.
The entire MAIS 6A state tournament will take place at Hartfield Academy.
In MAIS 4A, Tri-County Academy will play Washington School in the opening round of the MAIS 4A state tournament, with results unavailable at print time.