South Sunflower County traveled north to take on north Sunflower County. It’s been decades since the two private schools went head-to-head on the hardwood as the Indianola Academy Colonels headed up Highway 49 to take on the North Sunflower Academy Rebels.
The teams split with the North Sunflower Junior High Lady Rebels and Rebels taking the wins while the Indianola Academy Lady Colonels and Colonels took the varsity matchups. In the Junior High girls’ game, Tiffany Mitchell led the Lady Rebels with nine points, followed by Addy DeBower and Kaliee DeBower each adding seven. Paisley Parker had four points in the 29-26 win.
“I was really proud of my girls,” Lady Rebels Head Coach Jeff Andrews said. “My junior high girls won by three. We had a bigger lead. We got tired at the end and liked to have lost it, but really, really played well. I mean, we really had a good offensive output on junior high. I was real pleased. Our girls have really improved over the holidays and played a really solid game.”
The varsity Lady Rebels weren’t as lucky as they fell 40-14 to the Lady Colonels. But with two injuries depleting his already low-number roster, Coach Andrews’ girls had to soldier on with a host of junior high players shouldering the varsity play. Addy DeBower had four points while Kailee DeBower added three. Three Lady Rebels added two points — Penny Fulton, Gracie Wooten and Chloe Horton — while Tiffany Mitchell added one.
“At the end of high school, I only had one high school player,” Coach Andrews said. “One girl started but got a concussion in the first. And probably my best player in high school. She got knocked out and had to leave. And then I only had one other high schooler because the other one had some wisdom teeth cut out. I was down to one high school player and four junior high girls.”
He noted the Lady Rebels “actually played with them until halftime. It was 17-7. And my girls were just worn slap out because all of them had played four quarters before.”
Even with the loss, Coach Andrews has seen steady improvement.
“They really, really have improved and have played with a lot of hard toughness. And everybody’s really pleased with how much they’ve improved since the first of the year. We’re going to get there sooner or later. Still got a young group.”
On the boys’ side, the Junior High Rebels took a tough come-from-behind 38-35 win. Kaleb Woods led the Rebels with 11 points, while Cullen Hewitt added nine, Bear Walker had eight, and Bradyen Bowen had seven. The Rebels didn’t score a point in the first quarter and were down 12-0 but fought back in the second and were only down by one at halftime, 18-17.
“We played better defense and led at the end of the third quarter, 27-20,” Head Coach Anthony Rivera said. “They battled back and their #5 had 13 points in the fourth quarter.”
In the varsity matchup, the Colonels picked up the 54-40 win.
“Tonight was a good game. (Dylan) Patterson came back and we started off slow. Him trying to find his way into the new rotation, throwing the ball around,” Coach Rivera said. “But it was good to have him back. He made a difference on the boards.”
The Rebels led 7-4 after one quarter but were outscored by the Colonels, 20-9 in the second. The third quarter was a Colonels advantage, 12-10 and the Rebels made a push in the fourth scoring 14 points but fell, 54-40.
“Not having that depth. I heard their crowd say, ‘They’re gassed. You can run them now.’ And then they put the pedal to the metal and started running us up and down the court. Our Junior High guys did what they could. I’m proud of them. We’re going to get in the gym tomorrow. We’re going to watch some film, and the next time we see them, we’re going to be ready.”
Omarian Williams kept his double-double streak alive at 29 games as he had 24 points and 24 rebounds. Adam Haney added 12 points and Wyatt Barr had four.
The Rebels will host Regents Academy on Friday, January 9, and then Delta Academy on Tuesday, January 13, before hitting the road for four straight road games.
