The last time we saw our Lady Bobcats on the basketball court, they had capped off their region tournament run with an overwhelming 94-60 victory over Northwest Mississippi to secure the Region 23 championship and a trip to the women’s national tournament in Lubbock, Texas.
They were heading to nationals with a 24-4 overall record and 13-1 conference record, looking primed for a deep run in the tournament. However, before they could pack up and get ready to go to Texas, the pandemic shut down their season.
“We definitely played our best basketball in the Region Tournament, so we were disappointed not to be able to go to Lubbock,” said Women’s Head coach Missy Bilderback, saying that she and her team felt like they had a “very realistic opportunity” of winning it all.
“We were very disappointed, everything we worked hard for literally gone in an instant,” said sophomore Jordan Clark.
During Bilderback’s tenure, she has amassed an overall record of 127-20. When asked about continuing Bilderback’s success, Clark assured that she and her fellow teammates are “very confident” about maintaining the winning culture at Jones.
“We work hard and push each other every day and push each other to be the best we can be…coach Bilderback always makes sure we practice at a high level to prepare us,” Clark said.
This year’s season will be different from any other season with its entirety being played after Christmas break instead of being split by it.
“It will be different for sure starting the season in January, but I look forward to not having a split season and a long break…We are thankful to have a chance to play our season and get things somewhat back to normal,” Bilderback said.
Other than Clark, Bilderback will have Ebony Gayden, Lekera Hughes and Endia Holliday returning from last year’s Region 23 championship team.
Unlike the other spring sports, the men’s basketball team season did not end due to COVID-19 but because of elimination from the playoffs. The last game of the men’s team season was the Region 23 championship game at Mississippi College against conference rival Pearl River, in which they lost 62-75.
The road to the regional championship was not easy for the men’s team, having to fight for playoff positioning late in the season just to make the post-season. Head coach Randy Bolden contributed some of their difficulties last season to the highly competitive south division.
“We are in a tough division full of great teams and coaches, which means there are no easy nights,” said Bolden. He added that the tougher division “makes the season exciting” every year.
Despite being in the high competition, Bolden has helped lead his teams to two consecutive 20-win seasons since his first season as head coach, where his team finished with an overall record of 12-11.
Going into the Christmas break last season, the men’s team had a perfect 9-0 record, but that changed once they resumed playing last January. The Bobcats dropped 3 of their first four games after the break, losing to Hinds, Pearl River and Southwest.
Like women’s basketball, the men’s upcoming season will begin in the spring semester.
“We plan on scheduling a scrimmage during the break to keep good chemistry and narrow the gap, so our guys won’t be rusty going into the season,” Bolden said.
Bolden will only have three players from last year’s roster returning: Tradavis Thompson, John Rawls and Jackson Delk.
“With us losing so many sophomores last year, I don’t think that we have any momentum to bring with us from last season. However, we expect sophomores who are returning to come in and be leaders on and off the floor and help take us to where we are trying to go,” said Bolden.
Sophomore John Rawls said, “We have a great group of guys coming to Jones that are motivated to get the job done this year. I know our guys have been working over the break, trying to stay in good shape, by running and lifting weights as much as they can.
“From my experience last year, I’ve learned how focused we are going to have to be in order to accomplish our goals and I’m looking forward to the grind, on and off the court,” Rawls said.
The men’s team will be looking to improve on their past season and hopefully cashing in a ticket to go to Hutchinson, Kansas for the national tournament.
by Johnathan Richardson
