For the first time in 27 years, Yazoo City celebrates state basketball championship
"Twenty-seven years later."
That was written in red and black on a white sign directly behind the Yazoo City bench. It could easily have been lost in the sea of red. The Yazoo City faithful's matching red shirts seemed to swallow everything around them and continued into the upper decks of the Mississippi Coliseum.
The last time Yazoo City won a state championship was in 1996. Coach Anthony Carlyle was in the fifth grade at the time. Twenty-seven year later, Carlyle led his alma mater to the second state title in program history with a 53-43 victory over Raymond. It's Carlyle's sixth as a head coach in Mississippi. He's 6-0 in championship games.
"We had taken over a team that only won eight games," Carlyle said. "We wanted to build it from the ground up, and it's been a grind for the last five years. But we finally reached what we've been trying to accomplish.
"My daddy challenged me to come back home and try to turn this program around. He's been ill, and I wish he was here. That's why I'm a little emotional, but I told him that we were going to bring back the gold ball to him."
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Yazoo City used a 14-6 run in the second quarter to take a 28-15 lead at halftime. Yazoo City was in complete control throughout against the Rangers, who were making their seventh consecutive trip to a state championship game.
Raymond made its push with an 8-2 run to start the second half behind Class 4A Mr. Basketball EJ Paymon, but it wasn't enough. Yazoo City's duo of Damarion Winston and Tamarion Hoover combined for 26 points and kept the Rangers at bay. It was the perfect way to announce Yazoo City as one of the best programs in the state, according to Carlyle.
"The was the perfect matchup," Carlyle said. "Raymond is the top dog in 4A, and in order to win a state championship you've got to be able to go through them. That's the matchup everybody wanted to see."
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Winston was quick to credit Carlyle for the transformation the program has gone through. Yazoo City's duo of Winston and Hoover will return next season for a shot at consecutive championships. But this one was for Carlyle and the community.
"Most of the credit goes to Carlyle," Winston said. "Anthony Carlyle (is) a great coach. He's the one that got us here.
"Including the fans, everybody was there for us. Everybody won this championship with us."
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: 27 years later: Yazoo City wins first state championship since 1996
