Two tough defeats in Canton in the MAIS playoffs ended the North Sunflower Academy Lady Rebel and Rebel varsity seasons. The junior varsity tournament that was scheduled last week at North Sunflower was canceled and ended the JV season.
The teams traveled to Canton for the first round of the playoffs on Monday, February 2. The Lady Rebels fell to Central Holmes, 77-18 while the Rebels lost to Delta Streets Academy, 74-28. Addy DeBower led the Lady Rebels with eight points while Penny Fulton added six. Head Coach Jeff Andrews came back to coach the team this season and would like to retire from coaching again. But he’s ready to keep building a strong team and help lead them back to a winning tradition. The final game was one where the competition just had too much firepower and talent.
“They were long and athletic and we just couldn’t dribble the ball against them much,” Coach Andrews said. “We actually did good the first quarter, but after that, we couldn’t do much.”
The Lady Rebels won’t lose any players and only have one junior in looking at next season. The rest are sophomores down to seventh grade.
“My girls have really improved a lot. I told them last night, if we had played the way we played at the end of the season, if we had played like that at the first of the season, when we were playing Deer Creek and some of those schools, we could have won some games with them,” he said. “Because I know Deer Creek played the schools that we played and they only scored four points against them. I was telling my girls last night, ‘Y’all are young, and y’all got a lot of growing to do and a lot of maturing to do. And when you do, you keep with it, stick together, you’re going to be good in about two more years.’”
Rebel Head Coach Anthony Rivera had his team start well but Delta Streets’ talent was too much to handle.
“We stuck with them the first quarter. And after that, their experience and aggressiveness took over. By halftime, the game had got away. It was 42-14,” Coach Rivera said. “They just overwhelmed us with their aggressive side. They outsized my guard and pressed up on him. Omarion Williams had to be super and he finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. (Haney) did what he could, but it was just too much for him. It was one of those games where it’s not the X’s and the O’s, but the Jimmy’s and the Joe’s, and that was Delta Streets. I got a chance to play a lot of the younger guys and so there’s always next year.”
The Rebels have only one senior, Wyatt Barr, and will return the rest of the young team.
