There's a reason why Decoreyon Small is The Clarion-Ledger's state high school athlete of the week. The Montgomery County senior scored 22 points in a 60-31 win over French Camp, then had a virtuoso performance in a 66-63 victory over Durant in a key MHSAA Region 5-1A game.
Small scored 33 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter. “He kind of took over and wouldn't let us lose,” said coach Frank Miller.
The game was tied 43-43 through three quarters before the Hornets outscored Durant 23-20 in the final period for the win that was not decided until Small made two free throws in the final seconds for a 66-61 lead. Katicion Winfrey contributed 21 points for the Hornets and Deterrious Williams had nine.
“It was a great game,” Miller said. “I was really pleased. We played inspired the whole game. Everybody on the team contributed one way or another. Any time you go to Durant and win you have to be happy,”
A fourth straight win improved the Hornets' record to 16-4. More importantly, the Hornets lead the region with a 5-0 record. McAdams is 5-2 and Coffeeville is 4-2 in the six-team region. Regular season standings determine seeding for the region tournament, which in turn determines the four teams that advance to the MHSAA playoffs.
“I'm not worried about the playoffs right now. We have serious competition coming up,” Miller said.
The Hornets have a home game with Coffeeville Thursday and road games with McAdams Friday and Coffeeville Tuesday. Montgomery County previously defeated McAdams 62-44.
The top two seeds for the region tournament receive an opening round bye and thus are assured of reaching the playoffs. The tournament winner and runner-up will be at home for the opening round of the playoffs while the two semifinal losers will be on the road.
Region 5 will be paired up with teams from Region 8 in South Mississippi in the opening round.
In the win over French Camp, Montgomery County led the Panthers 34-12 at the half and coasted to the win. Jalen Daniels finished with 11 points.
Lady Hornets
Montgomery County's girls split two Region 5-1A games., defeating French Camp 71-18 before dropping a 62-33 game to Durant.
The Lady Hornets made seven of 13 three-point shots in the easy win against French Camp. Arkeveah Gayden scored 16 points, Tatyana Womach had 15 and Tatyana Kenney 10 points, while connecting on three of four shots from behind the arc. Womach had eight rebounds and three assists and Kenney five rebounds and four assists. Twelve Lady Hornets scored in the win.
It was a different story against Durant. “We didn't play well,” said coach Jeremy Robinson. “We had too many turnovers and it seemed like we couldn't hit a shot. Durant had a big game and we didn't have a very good game.”
The results left Montgomery County with a 13-7 record, including 3-2 in MHSAA Region 5-1A play. The losses have been against McAdams and Durant, both undefeated in region play.
The Lady Hornets will have a rematch with Durant in the final game of the regular season Feb. 9.
