Madison Booker, Germantown punch ticket to 'Big House' with 62-42 win over Center Hill

ITTA BENA — For the third year in a row, Germantown is headed back to the Big House.

Riding a huge second half behind from Madison Booker and Alana Rouser, the Lady Mavericks were able to get past Center Hill 62-42 in the Third Round of the MHSAA Girls Class 6A playoffs at Mississippi Valley State on Friday night.

Germantown (27-2) will face the Harrison Central-Gulfport winner on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Mississippi Coliseum.

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“We just had to settle down and I knew we were even with shots not falling in the first half and I told the girls just keep playing our game and shots were eventually going to fall and that’s what happened,” said Germantown coach Jamie Glasgow. “We stepped it up in the third quarter and played like we were supposed to.”

After a slow first half, the Lady Mavericks really turned it on in the third quarter. But even when things were going wrong, Germantown remained in control.

The Lady Mavericks held a slim 16-14 at the end of the first. Rouser picked up the slack for a slow start from Booker, scoring 14 points in the opening quarter for Germantown.

Center Hill went on a 7-0 run to take a 26-21 lead with 4:49 left in the second quarter. That's when the switch flipped for Booker, the McDonald's All-American forward. Germantown answered with 12-4 run to end the first half with a 33-30 lead. Booker scored the Lady Mavericks final seven points before the half.

The Lady Mavericks picked up right where they left off after the break. Germantown outscored Center Hill 16-5 to extend their lead out to 49-35 and from that point the Lady Maverick lead never dwindled past 14 points.

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Booker, a Texas signee, finished with a game-high 30 points to lead Germantown.

“Second half they didn’t make those tough shots and we started making making shots and capitalizing on that,” Booker said. “When I stepped up, Alana stepped up and we did what we had to do and go get it. It’s good feeling to get back to the Big House. We just have to finish.”

Rouser added 17 points for the Lady Mavericks.

“Maddie stepped up and so did Alana as well in the second half like I expected them too, but we had others step as well with big rebounds,” Glasgow said. “We’re excited to be headed back to the Big House and I feel like we got a lot to prove and got to finish.”

Taylor Ware had 13 points to lead Center Hill, while Dominique Collins added 12 points for the Lady Mustangs (19-9).

“The thing between good teams and great teams is keeping a level heading and not let adversity get to you," Center Hill coach Emily Owens said. "A I feel like that happened to us in the third quarter. "This senior group was special for us, to get us this far. It’s been a joy to coach them and they’ve worked so hard and built it up, and hopefully we can grow from this.”