Photo: Tommy Callicut (30) of Olive Branch looks inside for a play in Saturday’s 74-54 victory over Callaway. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
Olive Branch boys and girls, Hernando girls, and Northpoint Christian girls are the teams left to carry the DeSoto County standard in Mississippi and Tennessee high school basketball state tournaments after playoff games played this week.
Olive Branch knocked off visiting Callaway 74-54 in the first round of the 6A boys state playoffs Saturday afternoon at Charlie Bibbs Gymnasium. The defending state champions from last year led from start to finish in the victory.
The Conquistadors jumped out to a 9-2 lead and led 14-9 after one quarter. Olive Branch built an 11-point lead at 30-19 with 2:44 left in the half and held a 35-25 advantage at halftime.
Braxton Ward scored all but four of Callaway’s 25 points in the first half, which veteran Olive Branch coach Eric Rombaugh said was not acceptable. “We’ve got to do a better job of locking down on defense,” Rombaugh said. Ward finished with a game-high 35 points for the Chargers.
Xavier Poplar, with a trio of three-pointers in the second quarter, paced a balanced Olive Branch attack with nine. He would finish the game with 16 points to lead four teammates in double figures.
“He’s a great shooter,” Rombaugh said. “He does a great job of extending the defense because once he starts hitting some threes, the defense has to come out. That’s when we can get back behind him and get Tommy (Callicut) and some of our other post players involved.”
Teammates Taiveon Mitchell would score 15, King George finished with 14 points and Reece Garrison added 11.
The Quistors held a double-digit lead through the third quarter, taking a 50-37 lead into the fourth quarter. That’s when Olive Branch broke it open as the lead grew to 63-42 halfway through the final period, on the Quistors’ way to the 20-point victory. Olive Branch improved to 24-6 with the win.
PLAYOFF PAIRINGS SET: With Saturday’s win, Olive Branch now has a stiffer challenge awaiting on Friday, Feb. 21 when the 6A quarterfinals are played at Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU). The Conquistadors will play Columbus (24-4).
Earlier Friday afternoon, the Olive Branch girls will meet Vicksburg in the quarterfinals at MVSU.
Hernando girls have a 7A quarterfinal date Wednesday afternoon against defending 7A state champ Tupelo, also at MVSU.
Monday evening, the Northpoint Christian girls’ basketball team starts its playoff journey in the first round of the TSSAA Division 2-A West Region tournament. Playing at home, Northpoint faces Trinity Christian Academy in a 6 p.m. tip off. The winner will play next in the region semifinals at Evangelical Christian School Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
