They continue to win the games that mean the most.
With a District 1AAA basketball title now to their credit, the Indianola Academy Colonels opened this week’s North AAA Tournament with a 61-43 Tuesday night victory over Winston Academy of Louisville.
Traveling to host school Heritage Academy in Columbus again this Friday, the 14-9 Colonels will take the court at 6:30 p.m. against Wednesday night’s winner of the Leake Academy (Madden) – Kirk Academy (Grenada) clash.
This tournament’s consolation game will then occur at 4 p.m. Saturday while the title game is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. that same day.
Already assured of a berth in the upcoming State AAA Tournament to be hosted by Leake Academy, that particular week’s action has a Tuesday, February 19 start date.
In their recent win over Winston Academy the Colonels expanded on a 25-20 halftime lead in an emphatic way during the final two periods of the game.
Outscoring the Rebels 36-23 over the course of the second half of the game, the Colonels earned their 18 point victory.
Leading the scoring for IA in this contest was Randy Kimble with his 20 point outing.
Also turning in a strong double double night of play was Stefon Smith with 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Adding 11 points to the Colonels’ point total was DeDe Willis.
In this past week’s District 1AAA Tournament, the Colonels played the host and gave IA fans plenty to cheer about.
Claiming a 66-43 thrashing of Lee Academy of Clarksdale last Friday night, the Colonels then followed suit in Saturday’s title game with a hard-fought 74-65 decision over Bayou Academy of Cleveland.
In this championship game over Bayou Academy, the Colonels used a 20-11 third period run to overcome the 32-31 deficit they faced at halftime.
The Colonels then built on their new-found eight point lead in the final quarter by outscoring the Colts 23-22 to take the game to its final margin.
There were four players aiding the Colonels in reaching their high point total and the group was led by Smith’s double double; the recent Hinds Community College football signee’s effort resulted in 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Following close behind in scoring was Kimble, who completed his night’s play with 19 points. Meanwhile, Ashton Powell and Willis showed up with clutch performances by posting 14 and 10 points respectively on the scoreboard.
As for last Thursday’s pummeling of Lee Academy, a strong 19-8 first period lead was followed by the Colonels outscoring the Colts 34-17 in the second half to enable the Colonels to claim the 23 point victory.
Kimble led all scorers with his 22 point outing while Willis also turned in a strong game by pumping 21 points through the basket.
