Jackson Prep upsets Clinton Christian to win back-to-back MAIS basketball championship
Note to readers: An earlier online version of this story misidentified Clinton Christian in the body of the story. The Clarion Ledger regrets the error.
It is hard to beat a team three times in one season, just ask Clinton Christian.
In a game that became a battle of will versus skill, Jackson Prep held the Warriors to six points in the fourth quarter defeating them 58-46 Wednesday night at Mississippi College to win its second consecutive MAIS boys basketball championship.
After losing seven seniors off last season's championship team, the Patriots found leadership in senior Luke Segrest, who played tough defense against KJ Sykes, and on offense ran the show getting his teammates involved offensively, while scoring 12 points.
"Luke Segrest did an outstanding job throughout the year," Jackson Prep coach Tim Wise said. "He's our heart and soul."
Jackson Prep (30-6) had to overcome losing to Clinton Christian in the last two meetings earlier in the season. On Nov. 10, 2022, the Patriots lost 53-46 at Clinton Christian. On Dec. 9, 2022, Jackson Prep was blown out 71-52 at home.
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Wise and his staff studied the last two games it played against the Warriors, and felt the best way to win this game was to not let Sykes and fellow guard LJ Jones beat them. Jackson Prep goal was to let any other players beat them.
Jackson Prep's Konnor Griffin was physical and played with force, dominating the glass on both ends of the floor. Griffin led all scorers with 15 points, while getting help inside from William Laird, who added 10 points and Ben Segrest chipped in with 13 points.
Clinton Christian (40-5) all game long would get to within a basket, but could never take the lead. The closest the Warriors came was when Rakwu Yates-Thompson hit a 3-pointer from the right corner with 54 second left in the third quarter to make the score 43-40. He finished with 12 points. Sykes had 13 points and Trey Alexander added12.
"There are just six teams in our state, in our division" Wise said. "It is really more of a conference-slash tournament, so yes, obviously we wanted to win against Madison-Ridgeland Academy. But MRA made great plays down the stretch to beat us in the fourth quarter. For here though, we would be recognizing this as over the whole association, so it's sweet, it's sweet."
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson Prep basketball upsets Clinton Christian for back-to-back titles
