The J.Z. George girls and boys basketball teams combined to double their win output from the previous season with a total of 16 victories under first-year coach Le'Quell Allen to rank as the No. 5 sports story for the 2019-2020 school year.
The Lady Jaguars finished the season with a 7-19 mark, which may not sound too impressive, but they were only 2-25 a year ago.
One thing this program needs is continuity. You can't expect a winning program if the head coach and the system keep changing every year," Allen said in the preseason preview for the Lady Jaguars. "That's tough on the kids. My plans are to stay here and help get this team back to winning."
The Lady Jaguars came in fourth in the Region 2-2A Tournament, which qualified them for the State 2A Tournament. They dropped a 69-35 decision to Pelahatchie in the first round.
The Lady Jags were led by the senior threesome of Tashanda Fleming, Jasmine Newman and Tyeshia Grant, junior Jakyla Winters and sophomore Allyson Anderson.
The Jaguars finished with a 9-15 mark in Allen's first year. Allen, who was serving as the junior high boys coach last year at West Bolivar, got a late start with the boys because of football season.
The Jaguars started the season 3-5. J.Z. George got to the district tournament as the No. 3 seed, where the Jags beat Eupora in the semifinals and played Calhoun City in the title game. They lost to finish second and fell 63-57 to St. Joseph in the first round of the State 2A Tournament.
The Jaguars were led this past season by senior Malik Branch, junior Keldrick Glover and sophomores Jordun Normal and D'Anthony McGlothan.
There were a total of 11 sophomores and freshmen on this past season's team. There were only two seniors and two juniors.
