Published: February 07, 2006 05:44 am            

Higginbotham Column: 'February Madness' just around the corner

Notes, quotes and an opinion or two while thawing out from a Lamar soccer match that turned frigid after a cold front moved through Monday afternoon:

My favorite time of the year is so close at this point, I can smell it.

Private school basketball teams had their district tournaments last week and begin the playoffs today. Public schools crank up division tourneys next week, which means do-or-die games leading to "The Big House" can't be far away.

And, of course, The Big House means spring is just around the corner ... when 100 percent of my extra-curricular time will be spent with softball and turkey hunting.

But while those things — and a host of others including the NCAA Tournament's March Madness — are still five or six weeks away, area hoops junkies can get their fix without having to go far once the high school action heats up.

"February Madness" as I've always referred to it starts today for eight area private-school teams — all of them in elimination games.

Lamar's girls take on Magnolia Heights at 4 p.m. in the MPSA Class AAA Division II tourney at Madison-Ridgeland; while Leake Academy's girls and boys take on Kirk Academy and Lee Academy at 6:30 and 7:45 p.m. in the Class AA tourney at Madden.

In the South Central A tourney at Prentiss Christian School, Newton County Academy's girls battle Lamar Christian at 4 p.m., NCA's boys take on Amite School Center at 5:15 and Wayne Academy's girls battle Amite at 6:30.

Wednesday, the Lamar boys battle Starkville Academy at 7:45. The winner gets the reward of advancing to next week's Class AAA state tourney, but they'll also likely get the reward of having to battle top-ranked and host MRA in Friday's semifinals.

Also Wednesday, Kemper Academy's girls battle Ben's Ford at 4 p.m., Heidelberg Academy's girls take on Wilkinson Christian at 6:30 and Heidelberg's boys meet Ben's Ford at 7:45 in the South Central A tourney at PCS.

With the exception of Meridian High and a few teams with byes, all public schools in the area will hit the hardwood next Monday or Tuesday as division tourneys crank up.

Like the MPSA has done for years, the MHSAA now allows the top four teams to make the playoffs. But the first two rounds of North and South State games for public schools are elimination contests — so you'd better believe teams will be jockeying for favorable brackets.



Super Bowl tidbits

So how many of you noticed Deshea Townsend's plug for his old high school during player introductions in Sunday's Super Bowl XL?

As players introduced themselves and where they played their college ball in pre-taped footage, Townsend — the Pittsburgh cornerback who had a big fourth-quarter sack of Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck — calmly said "Deshea Townsend, South Panola University."

High school pundits have been calling the Batesville school the University of South Panola for years. The Tigers, of course, whipped Meridian in last December's Class 5A state championship game to win their 45th straight game and third straight state crown ...

My vote for the favorite commercial goes to Budweiser's "The Streaker" — the sheared lamb who disturbs the Clydesdales' annual football battle. The pink streaker was funny enough — but the reaction and antics of the other animals who were "fans" was hysterically classic stuff.



More on soccer ...

Hats off to Newton County coach Sidney Cook and his Cougars — who are the only public school team left in the MHSAA state soccer playoffs.

While West Lauderdale's girls (5-0 to Ridgeland) and boys (8-0 to No. 1 Pearl) and Clarkdale's girls (5-0 to Madison St. Joseph) were outscored a combined 18-0 in Saturday's second-round playoff losses, Newton County was pulling off a surprising 2-0 win on the road at Corinth.

The Cougars' next chore will be as tough as the one faced by the West and Clarkdale teams on Saturday, however. Newton County goes to Madison St. Joseph today for the Class 1A/2A/3A North State championship.

Cook's Cougars, the Division 5 champs, are 12-1-3 while St. Joseph is 7-8-1. But the Bruins — the four-time defending state champs — have played a brutal schedule of Class 4A and 5A opponents and spanked a 13-3 Amory team 5-0 in the quarterfinal round.



From the in case you missed it files ...

Epiphanny Prince of Murry Bergtaum High School in New York scored a national-record 113 points in a prep game last week — and she did it in a 137-32 romp, setting off a whirlwind of criticism in addition to plenty of "atta-girls" from around the nation.

Seems Prince and her teammates were up 44-6 after one quarter and 74-11 at halftime, yet her coach admitted leaving the Rutgers signee in the game so she could break the record.

"She didn't earn this," losing coach Vera Springer said after she instructed her team to stop trying to play defense. "It was like picking on a handicapped person."

Prince got her 113 points on 54-of-60 shooting from the floor — mostly layups, and her mark topped the 105 points Hall-of-Famer Cheryl Miller scored back in 1982.

"Instead of people getting their feelings hurt, they should pat her on the back," Miller said of Prince.

Hmmm ... wonder what Cheryl would have thought if Prince had broken her leg in the fourth quarter?

And ...

In Alaska, a girl — sophomore Michaela Hutchison — won the 103-pound weight class' state championship in wrestling. She beat a boy, Aaron Boss, 1-0 in Saturday's finals.

It was the second time Hutchison beat Boss this season; but it was the first time a girl competing against boys in wrestling had ever won a state title. Hutchison finished with a 45-4 record behind a crowd roaring such chants as "Girl Power" after she finished the match with a bloody nose.

I can only imagine the reception at school today for the loser.

        

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