Halftime of the opening game of the regional tournament for the Lady Statesmen started off great. When I say great, I mean great defense and enough offense to take a 9-1 lead.

Then both teams started make baskets. Valdosta State, who basically was non-existent to start the game, decided to make an impact and give Delta State a run for its money.

If it not for a late score by the Lady Statesmen, Valdosta goes into the half with the lead.

The second half should be interesting.

DSU needs to keep up the outstanding defensive play they had in the first half if they want a chance at claiming the victory.

Rosedale has defeated Coahoma County 48-46 in the semifinals of the 2A state playoffs.

Next up will be Hinds AHS (31-2) in the championship game Friday at 2:30 p.m. in Jackson.

Throw in the Delta State and Alabama-Huntsville match up at 7:30 p.m. and it should be an interesting Friday.

Just got back from the men and woman's press conference at Delta State.

Nothing earth shattering took place. No big time, make you gasp questions.

Delta State coach Sandra Rushing was named the GSC West coach of the year for the fourth year. She is going for her fourth consecutive GSC championship and a second regional tournament played in Cleveland.

Talk about being consistent. I couldn't win four GAMES in a row if I wanted to.

Junior Chad Akins and sophomore Bug Cooper were both named to the first-team All-GSC as point guards. No surprises there as both of them have been key to their respective team.

Cooper leads the Lady Statesmen (easily) in assists with 237 (8.2 per game). She also leads the team in steals (55) and minutes played (936). She is fourth in points with 259.

Akins' stats are not much different than Cooper's. He leads the team in assists with 191, 37 steals, 681 minutes played.

That's a lot of minutes played. That's more than 11 hours playing in basketball games. The only thing I've ever done that long is...nothing, well maybe sleep 11 hours straight but that's another story.
The Lady Statesmen won't take to the court until Thursday. They will face the winner of Harding University and West Alabama.

Delta State has played both teams twice earlier in the year. The Lady Statesmen defeated West Alabama 67-54 and 63-38. They defeated Harding 71-42 at Harding and 71-57 in Cleveland.

The Statesmen will play Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Alabama-Huntsville, for the third time this year.

Whether that is a good thing or not has yet to be determined.

I just finished reading this story about Ole Miss football and loved it. Everybody should read this.

It's about the 1962 football season, the same year James Meredith came to Ole Miss. It centers on the first few days that Meredith enrolled at Ole Miss, but does go into detail about the full season and some seasons after the 1962, undefeated season.

If you're a fan of Ole Miss, or just football in general, you should read this now.

Here is the link to the story on ESPN.com
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=mississippi62

Last night, Rosedale won the 2A North Half State championship with a 65-47 victory over South Delta.

The Eagles will await the winner of Taylorsville and Coahoma County for a 2:30 PM match up on March 2. Fans of Rosedale should hope Coahoma wins. The Eagles have played them three times already this year and know them very well. Taylorsville just lost the south half championship.

East Side lost its first game in nearly 10 games after losing to Corinth 67-61.

Tough loss for the Trojans who have easily defeated their two previous opponents in the state playoffs. They will be back in action Tuesday at 10:30 AM.