Published: February 28, 2009 11:53 pm      

Hurdle cleared

Leake Academy captures fifth MPSA Overall Championship

CLINTON — A day after facing — and beating — what was their stiffest competition in the Mississippi Private School Association’s Overall Tournament, the Leake Academy Rebelettes had one last hurdle to cross before being crowned the overall champs for the fifth time in school history.

And that challenge was a pesky Lady Yellow Jacket squad that just wouldn’t go away easily.

It took a full 24 minutes before the Rebelettes were able to put enough distance between themselves and Oak Forest Academy from Amite, La., to relax a little bit, but in true Doyle Wolverton fashion, Leake (42-3) never let up as they picked up a 65-56 win at A.E. Wood Coliseum on the Mississippi College campus.

“Early in the game, I thought we were flat and they came out and hit some big shots,” Wolverton said. “Then I went man on them and that didn’t give them any problem at all. As a matter of fact, they pushed it on out. So finally we said ‘We’ll just back up and match up.’

“At halftime, we took a pretty good tongue-lashing. Our kids are very good about stepping up and they made adjustments.”

Oak Forest (36-6), whom the Rebelettes beat in last year’s state title game, led by as many as five points in the back-and-forth first half and held the lead for 5 minutes in the first two quarters. Leake was on top for only 19 seconds longer through 16 minutes, which saw eight ties.

With just over 3 minutes remaining on the first-half clock, Jessie Powers knocked down a 3-pointer to give LA the lead for good. Powers went a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc and tallied a season-high 16 points.

After the Lady Jackets, who entered the Overall Tourney as the No. 4 seed out of Class AA, forced the final tie of the game at 31-all early in the second half, Leake used three big 3-pointers — one each from Hannah Peoples, Jenny Wilbanks and Powers — to gain the momentum and a five-point lead.

In the third quarter, OFA kept Leake from building more than a seven-point lead and kept it a two-possession game for most of the 8 minutes.

Peoples — an eighth-grader — took control in the second half as she led a team that will return all five starters next season. And having a first-year player with the ball late in the game wasn’t a concern for the legendary Leake Academy coach.

“Right there at the end, when they were putting the pressure on, we moved her to point guard and said ‘You bring it down, you shoot the free throws and then you guard their best player,’” Wolverton said. “I thought she did a really good job at that.

“I told somebody the other day, laughing, ‘You know, for somebody who’s not as old as the shoes I wear, she’s pretty good.’ A couple of times we just kicked it to her and got out of the way.”

Peoples finished the day with 18 points and six steals, which represented the majority of the Lady Jackets’ turnovers.

Wolverton has been a staple on the basketball court in Madden for 34 years and is now coaching the daughters of some of his former players. Center Emily Kea’s mother was on Wolverton’s first state championship team in 1982.

Kea notched a double-double in the Overall Championship Game, scoring 18 points and 10 rebounds. She also provided what has become somewhat of a secondary trophy for the Rebelettes.

“Emily had on different shoes than everybody else,” Wolverton said. “I don’t know how you can forget your shoes in the finals, but she forgot her shoes. They had to run out to a store and buy her a pair of shoes before the game started.”

After the game, Kea’s teammates signed the silver and white shoes — the standard for a Rebelette uniform is red and white — and they were officially retired after being worn for one game.

Kea was the lone Leake starter — each of whom played the full 32 minutes for the second straight game — to not attempt a 3-pointer.

On the afternoon, the Rebelettes were spot-on from downtown, connecting on 8-of-15. The 53.3 percent shooting clip topped their total field goal percentage by a full point.

Char’Lesa Tadlock, whose only shot of the game came on a 3-point attempt, failed to score in the contest, but pulled down five rebounds, had three assists and a steal.

“Char’Lesa does all of the dirty work for us,” Wolverton said. “She’s the one that ‘We say guard their toughest player and when they go to press us, find the holes to help us bring it down. She’s been a really fun kid to coach.”

Wilbanks, who had a pair of treys, finished the day with 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots. Her final field goal of the afternoon, put Leake on top by eight midway through the fourth quarter, representing the Rebelettes’ largest lead of the game until Peoples’ last free throw that made the final.

The fifth MPSA Overall Title moves Leake Academy into a tie for second place on the all-time list. Only Pillow Academy (6) has more.

“I think it’s an amazing accomplishment for these kids,” Wolverton said. “We didn’t get to playing really well until the latter part of the year. In our last regular season game, Jackson Prep beat us by 12 at Leake. But once we hit the playoffs, I thought we were rocking and rolling pretty good. We started scoring.”