A strong finish after a slow start earned Montgomery County a trip to the Mississippi Coliseum for the MHSAA 1A quarterfinals. As a result of a 55-44 victory over West Lowndes last Saturday, the Hornets will play two-time defending 1A champion Ashland at noon Thursday.
Montgomery County fell behind West Lowndes 11-4 after the first quarter. “People were standing around doing nothing,” said Coach Frank Miller.
It changed in the second quarter when Decoreyon Small started making free throws. The Hornets outscored the Panthers 22-13 for a 26-24 halftime lead. But Montgomery County trailed again, 41-38 in the fourth quarter.
“There was a timeout called and I remember looking up and we were down by three with six minutes left,” Miller said.
From that point, Montgomery County outscored West Lowndes 17-3. “We got a few steals and they got cold.” Miller said. “We got rebounds and they started fouling.”
Small was 15 of 16 from the line with 24 points. In two playoffs games, he has made 29 of 33 free throws while scoring 51 points.
Katazion Winfrey and Deterrious Williams each scored 12 points.
Miller watched Ashland defeat Biggersville 85-60 on Monday to advance the game at the Coliseum and came away extremely impressed. “Ashland is good. They have several guys who shoot well. They're real athletic and they defend well.”
Ashland (21-11) is one of the state's highest scoring teams. The Blue Devils average 72 points, led by DeAnthony Tipler who is scoring at a 29 points per game clip.
