Photo: Center Hill’s Jaidyn Rankins (4) ball handles against an Olive Branch defender during Tuesday’s Region 1-6A contest at Olive Branch. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
Olive Branch and Center Hill met once again on the basketball floor Tuesday night at Olive Branch, and Kelton Brown and Madison Hughes led their respective teams to victories, as the intense eastern DeSoto County hoops rivalry continued before a full house at Charlie Bibbs Gymnasium.
BOYS: OLIVE BRANCH 64, CENTER HILL 47: Kelton Brown single handedly willed his Quistors to a 64-47 victory, rallying Olive Branch by hitting 18 of his team’s 26 points in the final eight minutes of the game.
The Conquistadors opened the competitive first quarter with a 12-10 lead after one quarter, as Brown led the way with seven points. But Center Hill’s Jaidyn Rankins hit a trio of three-pointers and added a free throw in the second quarter to help the Mustangs take a 27-26 lead at halftime. Rankins had 16 points for the first half, 12 of which came from beyond the arc.
“They (Center Hill) kind of took us out of what we do,” said Olive Branch Eric Rombaugh. “We started playing their style instead of our style.”
Center Hill still led the game after three quarters, but only by a point at 31-30. That’s when Brown stepped up to tilt the contest toward the Quistors.
Of Brown’s 18 points in the final frame, all the points came from the floor, including two three-pointers.
“That might have been the difference right there,” Rombaugh said. “He hit a couple of threes, was able to attack the rim a little bit, and he got a couple of defensive stops. He’s one of our better defenders and he really locked in on defense when he rotated back in.”
Meanwhile, Rankins was held to just five points in the entire second half, and his team to just nine points in the final quarter. However, Rankins has now reached the 1,000 point level for his career.
GIRLS: CENTER HILL 68, OLIVE BRANCH 47: Madison Hughes is usually one of the players listed when coach Emily Owens posts her final scores on X/Twitter this season, and Hughes was at the top of the list again Tuesday night against the Lady Quistors.
“She’s an unbelievable rebounder and she has a great knack for the ball coming off the rim,” said Owens about Hughes. “That’s what got her started tonight and then she just got comfortable.”
Actually it was the “usual suspects,” as Hughes was joined by Jairya Rankins and Zarria Shipp in leading the way to the 21-point victory against Olive Branch. Rankins and Shipp each scored 13 points to supplement Hughes’ game-high 25 points.
A late three-point basket got the Lady Quistors within 16-11 after one quarter, Center Hill’s Hughes had five points in the quarter and Rankins added four. Olive Branch got five points from Gabrielle Bowen and four from Chloe Dorsey in the opening period of play.
The Lady Mustangs broke the game open in the second quarter, outsourcing the Lady Quistors by an 18-11 margin for 34-22 lead at halftime.
Center Hill continued to steadily pull away from Olive Branch in the second half, outscoring the Lady Quistors 34-25 in the second half.
“It wasn’t the cleanest game, it wasn’t the prettiest game, but I was really proud of how resilient we were,” said Owens. “We found ways to get things done when we were frustrated, or we didn’t like a call.”
Olive Branch was led by Vadaija Pimpton with 15 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. Gabrielle Bowen followed with 13.
The neighborhood rivals meet one more time in the regular season, and it’s not too far away, coming Jan. 26 at Center Hill.
Here’s Tuesday night’s DeSoto County scoreboard
Tuesday, Jan. 9
Prep boys basketball
Olive Branch 64, Center Hill 47
Olive Branch scoring Kelton Brown (27)
Center Hill scoring: Jaidyn Rankins (21), Jeremy Holloway (10)
Lewisburg 73, Southaven 63
Horn Lake 70, Hernando 58
Horn Lake scoring: Ronald Wilson (20), Tylan Young (12), J’Kenyan Shipp (12)
