1. Townsend has huge senior year for Tigers
Winona’s Deriaun Townsend had a huge senior season for the Tigers, which went 10-2 this past season and lost in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs to North Panola.
Townsend finished the season with 2,017 yards rushing on 209 carries, for an average of 9.65 yards a carry and 168 yards a game. He also had 28 rushing touchdowns and three receiving TDs. Townsend had a season-high 304 yards on 27 carries against Water Valley this season.
Townsend was named as the Region 3-3A Most Valuable Player, the Class 3A Offensive Player of the Year, and was named to the Bernard Blackwell North-South All-Star football game.
As a junior, Townsend rushed for 1,593 yards and with more than 1,500 yards in his time at J.Z. George, Townsend finishes his high school career with more than 5,500 yards in career rushing.
2. Winona basketball
The Winona boys basketball team enjoyed one of the best seasons in recent memory as the Tigers went 22-4 last year and won their district championship, completing a four-year turnaround from a team that won one game in a two-year stretch.
But Head Coach Presley Coleman wasn’t retained and stepped down from the job, seeking another head coaching position.
The Tigers then hired St. Andrew’s Assistant Coach Jamario Bugley to take over the program.
3. Carroll basketball
The Carroll Academy boys basketball team had another winning season on the hardwoods.
The Rebels, who were Class 3A runners-up in 2020, repeated as district champions and then repeated as Class 3A North State champions. But a round of severe weather kept the Rebels out of the gym and the the Rebels fell to Riverside in the opening round of the Class 3A state tournament. The Rebels finished the season with a 16-4 record.
Head Coach Tommy Acy stepped down at the end of the school year and left Carroll to become an assistant football coach at Pillow Academy.
The Rebels then hired Stephen Crenshaw to take over the Carroll basketball program.
So far, the Rebels have proved entertaining. Junior guard Noah Beck broke the school’s single-game scoring record with a 52-point outburst against Deer Creek earlier this season.
4. Carroll baseball
The Carroll Academy baseball team enjoyed an epic turnaround this past spring under legendary baseball coach Stacy Hester.
After suffering through multiple losing seasons, Hester turned the Rebels into district champions in his first season with the program. The Rebels finished with a 16-6 record but lost in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.
After just one season with the Rebels, Hester left for Manchester Academy.
Athletics Director Stephen Crenshaw turned to softball coach and assistant coach Zach Whitfield to take over the baseball program.
5. Winona Christian hires new baseball coach
Winona Christian’s Shannon Self brought a state championship to the school, but at the end of the 2021 season, Self stepped down as the school’s head baseball coach.
Self coached the Stars for eight seasons and won the school’s only state championship in baseball in 2017. Self remained at the school as the football team’s defensive coordinator.
The Stars then hired former Kosciusko baseball coach Derrik Boland to take over the program.
