The Mississippi Delta Community College Trojans traveled to Holmes Community College last Thursday but their efforts for a win were thwarted by the Bulldogs, 85-56. The Trojans were down by 14 at halftime, 44-30 and scored only 26 points in the second half while giving up 41 in the loss.
Freshman Javeon Smith came off the bench to lead the Trojans with 13 points. Sophomore Latrell Vance added 12 along with six rebounds. Freshman Elijah Hollins added nine while freshman Jaimartdrick Lawrence pitched in for six points.
Over all the Trojans shot 44 percent from the field on 23-of-52 shots and hit only 4-of-15 three pointers for a mere 27 percent. They did hit 6-of-8 free throws for 75 percent and had 32 rebounds, five assists, two steals, one block but gave up 16 turnovers.
Falling to 6-6 on the season, the Trojans are looking to break out of the Christmas break slump as they head into MACCC action. This past week, the arctic weather took a toll on the schedule as their road game with Meridian was canceled. No date has been set for the make-up game. The team was to travel to East Central this past Thursday (not covered due to press time) and then officially kicks off MACCC play when they travel to Hinds Community College on Monday, January 22.
To keep up with the Trojan basketball season and all things Trojan athletics, check out MDCCTrojans.com.
Lady Trojans
With single digit temperatures suffocating the Delta, the Mississippi Delta Lady Trojan basketball team has been running both hot and cold.
With their last game played nearly a month in the rear view mirror, Head Coach Tangela Banks’ team came out red hot against Holmes Community College on the road.
With a 65-55 win in their back pocket, the Lady Trojans were on fire the first quarter putting up 23 points and only allowing 10. But when players took their foot off the offensive gas, the scoring turned cold as they were outscored by Holmes 13-12 in the second quarter and took that point back in the third putting up 15 and allowing 14. But the fourth quarter saw Holmes with the advantage, 18-15 and an overall 32-20 second half scoring.
Lady Trojan Katelyn Coleman had 14 points to lead MDCC. Shakendalah Jones added 12 points while sophomores Tariyah Washington and Lauren Lain each added nine points.
The Lady Trojans shot 49 percent from the field on 27-of-55 field goals and hit 4-of-10 three pointers for 40 percent. The free throw line was a bit cold shooting as they hit only 7-of-13 for 54 percent. As a team they had 27 rebounds, nine assists, eight steals and three blocks while giving up 16 turnovers.
Holmes hit 21-of-43 shots for 49 percent but were only 25 percent behind the three-point arc on 3-of-12 shooting. A bit better at the free throw line, Holmes hit 10-of-15 free throws for 67 percent. The team had 29 rebounds, 10 assists, nine steals and two blocks but had 25 turnovers.
“We got up and just got content. I started letting others play,” Coach Banks said. “But they made some good shots on us and we started being lazy on defense a little bit. We just had to hold on to finish the game out.”
Coach Banks was glad to see a couple of players have a good game against Holmes.
“Jones played really well and Katelyn hadn’t played that well in a while. But now we’ve got to continue the momentum,” she said. “I keep telling them if we can’t play four quarters, we’re going to be in trouble. Some of them think they just turn it on and play but I keep telling them we’re not that kind of team.”
The coach hasn’t been happy with her team’s 3-point shooting and has been preaching getting it in closer.
“We’re not a 3-point team. I ask them to throw into the post more,” she said. “We’re still trying to get back in game shape. We’ve been off since December 13 and we’ve got to get ready for the conference grind coming up.”
