Pontotoc survives late Quitman rally to advance to MHSAA 4A Championship

JACKSON — Pontotoc couldn’t have asked for a better start on Mississippi's biggest basketball stage.

Thanks to some early sharpshooting and a few key defensive stops late, the Lady Warriors held off Quitman 51-46 in the Semifinal Round of the MHSAA Girls Class 4A Basketball Playoffs at the Mississippi Coliseum on Monday evening.

Pontotoc (31-3) will play Louisville or Raymond for the Class 4A State Championship at 5 p.m. Thursday. It will be the Lady Warriors' second trip to the state title in the last three seasons. Pontotoc won the 4A state title in 2021.

“We told the girls we were going to shoot our shot and put it in the air and we’re a good shooting team, we have been all year,” said Pontotoc coach Kyle Heard. “It got in our head like we were never going to miss, so we kept shooting jumpers and not attacking and they kept attacking us, so we had to lay off the three-pointers in the second half.”

Pontotoc never trailed.

The Lady Warriors hit five three pointers in the first quarter, racing ahead to an 18-4 lead before taking a 20-9 advantage into the second.

Quitman began to settle in, as the Lady Panthers kept chipping into the Pontotoc lead and ended the first half on a 8-2 run to trim their deficit to 30-21 at halftime.

The third quarter was basically even, with the two teams trading buckets and Pontotoc holding a 39-31 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

To begin the fourth quarter, the Lady Warriors got consecutive steals from Ella Hill and turned both of the turnovers into baskets to extend their lead to 43-34.

Quitman cut the lead down to six, at 45-39, but Alayna Ball hit a pair free throws with 1:10 left to extend Pontotoc’s lead to 47-39 to seal the game.

“In the second half, we played timid and scared and not to lose," Heard said. "Everybody tried not to be the one to make the mistake. We turned the defense up in the fourth quarter, and the girls got some big buckets down the stretch. Ella was big for us on both ends, and now we get to play for a state championship.”

Sadie Stegall had 12 points to lead Pontotoc, while Channing Lane added 11 points and Kori Ware and Hill had 10 points each for the Lady Warriors.

“We were knocking down a lot of shots to start, but towards the middle of the game shots weren’t falling and we got good leaders to keep each other up,” Hill said. “We were getting frustrated not making shots, but defense stepped up. Really excited to play for a state championship.”

Aaliyah Nixon had a game-high 21 points to lead Quitman, while Audriana Harris added 14 points for the Lady Panthers (22-11).

“We just couldn’t stop them from making shots to start the game and that came back to haunt us,” said Quitman coach Jennie Vance. “Proud of the girls for fighting and getting in the game and playing hard.”