Prep girls use comeback to win state title

Jackson Prep made an epic fourth quarter comeback in Saturday’s MAIS 6A girls basketball state title game to take a 37-29 win over Presbyterian Christian and win their second straight championship. 

Four-seeded PCS had all the momentum, as they had already pulled multiple upsets in the tournament already and had led for the entire first three quarters of the championship game. 

The Lady Patriots could not get shots to fall or capture any momentum through those first three quarters, but a spark plug from a couple of key players in the fourth quarter allowed Prep to dominate in the final period and secure their second straight MAIS 6A state title. 

Prep leaned on a couple of their stars in Junior Meg Barbour, who scored 13 points, and senior Ann Magee Stradinger, who added 12 points, to combine for 25 of Prep’s 37 points and proved to be major factors in the Lady Patriot comeback. 

Saturday’s win in the 10th class state title for the Jackson Prep girls basketball program history and the Lady Patriots will now shift their focus towards the MAIS overall state tournament, which will take place over the next two weeks at Mississippi College. 

The Lady Patriots will enter the overall tournament as a one-seed and earned a first-round bye with Saturday’s win. Monday’s first-round matchup between Washington School, who finished as the 4A runner-up, and Pillow Academy, who finished in third-place in 5A, will determine who Prep will play in their opening matchup of the overall tournament.

Jackson Prep did not play Washington during the regular season, but did beat Pillow Academy 59-40 on the road on December 3rd. 

The Lady Patriots will open the MAIS overall tournament on February 24th against the winner of that first round matchup between Pillow Academy and Washington at Mississippi College, with tip-off set for 10 AM.