Booneville tops Southeast Lauderdale 47-35 to claim MHSAA 3A State Championship
JACKSON — Booneville second-place finish in 2021 was fresh on the mind of Booneville senior Josh Dukes Saturday afternoon at the Mississippi Coliseum.
Determined not to go home a loser again, Dukes and the Blue Devils put together a stellar defensive performance in the second half to get past Southeast Lauderdale 47-35 to claim the MHSAA Boys Class 3A State Championship.
It’s the Blue Devils (27-5) fifth state title in school history and first state title since 2011.
“We felt like we had to play a lot of zone defense, and we started man-to-man, because we can’t abandon what got us here," Booneville coach Michael Smith said. "We when we made the switch, it made them struggle. Our size became a factor, and as our defense goes, our offense goes.”
Southeast Lauderdale (18-11) jumped out to an 8-2 lead to begin the game, but Booneville ended the first quarter on a 8-0 run to take a 10-8 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
The Blue Devils opened the second quarter on a quick 5-0 run to increase their lead to 15-8, but the Tigers closed the first half on a 7-3 run to cut the Booneville lead down to 18-15 at halftime.
To begin the third quarter, the Blue Devils went on a 7-1 run to extend their lead to 25-16.
Booneville’s defense held SE Lauderdale to just five points in the third quarter and 2-for-11 shooting from the field (18 percent). The Blue Devils held a 29-20 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Southeast Lauderdale got back-to-back baskets to begin the fourth quarter and cut the Booneville lead down to five points 29-24, but Kedrick Simmons hit a three-pointer with 6:41 left to extend the Booneville lead to 32-24 and the Tigers never got any closer.
Simmons had 13 points for the Blue Devils.
“We had to weather their storm, and we knew they would give us problems with their length," Smith said. "We’ve been punched in the mouth several times, and to not flinch and once we got the lead we had to stretch them out. Kedrick is just a freshmen, and that's a big shot for him and we were able to close it out. It’s hard to win this thing once and to do it twice in one day is a blessing.”
Josh Dukes had a game-high 15 points to lead Booneville and was named the game’s most valuable player.
“We’ve had to take punches and fight back. That’s what helped us in this game, and we’ve been here before and didn’t want to finish runner-up again,” Dukes said. “We had a revenge tour video made to remind us. Defense is what we do and that’s what won us this game.”
Dicorean McGee added 11 points for Booneville.
Eli Walker had 11 points to lead Southeast Lauderdale. The Tigers were in the state title game for the first time in school history.
“We could never find a basket. You can’t score 35 points in state championship game and expect to win," said SE Lauderdale coach Centel Truman. “I’m so proud of my guys to get here and we're going to make this is a routine of getting here and not be a one hit wonder.”
