The Winona Christian Lady Stars completed a perfect run through the District 2-4A competition this past week.
The Lady Stars took the District 2-4A championship on Friday as they beat rival Carroll 32-26 after easily handling Indianola 40-19 on Wednesday.
The Stars finished second in the tournament after losing 71-41 to Greenville St. Joseph. The Stars opened up the tournament with a 45-25 win over Indianola.
For second-year Coach Nick Mumme, it was a solid defensive effort from his squad.
“We are playing really good basketball right now,” Mumme said. “Defensively, everyone is locked in on that end of the court. The girls are doing a great job executing on the defensive end, and it’s leading to some easy transition points throughout each game.”
Mumme said he has seen the Lady Stars improve greatly since Christmas.
“In January, we’ve seen a lot of improvement offensively, and we’re getting scoring from multiple girls which is huge this time of year,” Mumme said. "We’re going to have a really tough game in the first round of north state, but I know our girls will be ready and excited for this upcoming week.”
The Winona Christian girls are the No. 1 seed out of District 2 and will take on host North Delta on Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. The winner advances to Friday at 6:30 p.m. to take on the winner of the Oak Hill and Central Holmes game. The girls’ championship game is set for 2:15 p.m. on Saturday.
On the boys’ side, the Stars will take on Marshall Academy on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The winner of that game would get the winner of the Rossville Christian and Central Holmes on Friday at 7:45 p.m. The boys’ championship game is set for Saturday at 5:15 p.m.
WCS girls 32, Carroll 26
The Lady Stars beat the Lady Rebels for the third time this season as they took a hard-fought six-point win in Friday’s district championship game.
Carroll led 8-6 at the end of the first period before Winona outscored the Lady Rebels 13-6 in the second to lead 19-14 at the half. Winona then outscored Carroll 5-2 in the second to lead 24-16 going to the fourth. Carroll then outscored WCS 10-8 in the fourth for the final margin.
Bella Roberts had another good game with 13 points, 11 rebounds and four steals. Audrey Eldridge had nine points and nine rebounds while Autum Lishman pulled down eight rebounds.
Winona Christian girls 40, Indianola 19
The Lady Stars had little trouble as they took a 21-point win on Thursday in the tournament semifinals.
Winona Christian jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the first period and led 21-9 at the half. WCS then outscored Indianola 12-3 in the third to take a 33-12 lead headed to the fourth. Both teams scored seven points in the fourth for the final margin.
Bella Roberts led WCS with 15 points, 15 rebounds and four steals. Audrey Eldridge had eight points and eight rebounds while Olivia Brooks had eight points and five rebounds.
WCS boys 45, Indianola 25
The Stars started fast as they took a 20-point win to advance to the district championship game on Wednesday.
Winona jumped out to a 13-6 lead in the first period and 12-3 in the second to lead 25-9 at the half. Indianola took the third period 13-8 in the third to cut the lead to 33-22 going to the fourth. But the Stars outscored the Colonels 12-3 in the fourth to take the win.
Jake Ware had a big game with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Reese Johnson had six points and eight rebounds while Landon Bland had six points and 10 rebounds. Jack Sorgen had five points and three assists.
Greenville St Joseph boys 71, WCS 41
The Irish outscored the Stars in every period and took a 30-point win in the district championship game.
St. Joseph outscored Winona 19-12 in the first and 15-8 in the second to lead 34-20 at the half. The Irish continued to extend their lead in the second half as they outscored Winona 19-12 in the third and 18-9 in the fourth.
Reese Johnson led WCS with 10 points and seven rebounds. Collin Parkinson had nine points and four rebounds while Jake Ware ha eight points and five rebounds. Reese Cooper had seven points and seven rebounds while Landon Bland chipped in six points.
