OB’s Taylor chooses Mississippi State
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Mississippi State’s women’s basketball program has a chance to compete for some serious hardware in the next few seasons. And Myah Taylor wants to be a part of it.
Taylor — the 5-7 junior standout at Olive Branch — announced Oct. 14 that she will play for the Bulldogs, who finished 27-7 last year and ended the season ranked 18th in the USA Today coaches poll.
“They’re going to be competing for national championships, which means I’ll be competing at a high level,” said Taylor. “They’ve been very loyal to me. They started recruiting me when I was in the eighth grade.
“I already feel like I’m a part of their program and a part of their family.”
Taylor — who enters the year ranked 41st nationally in the class of 2017 according to ESPN Hoop Gurlz — had numerous offers and chose the Bulldogs over Memphis, Southern Miss and Wake Forest.
As a sophomore, she averaged 18.2 points and 8.3 assists while shooting 56.7 percent from the floor as the Quistors finished as the MHSAA 6A runnersup with a 32-2 record. She was named The Commercial Appeal’s Pepsi Best of the Preps player of the year and also won the Gatorade state player of the year.
A member of the National Honor Society, Taylor plans to study engineering in Starkville.
“The coaches at Mississippi State really like the way I make other players better,” she said. “They say I make it easier for the other players.
“But I have to continue working on my strength — which I’m doing — and my shot. In college, I’ll have to be able to stop and pop or hit floaters because of the bigger players.”
MUSTANGS SHINE AT COUNTY MEET
Houston swept the boys and girls individual races at the County Championships cross-country meet at Shelby Farms.
Houston’s girls easily won the team title, placing five of the top seven runners. Michelle Myers won, followed by Marah Barnhardt (fourth), Anna Tankersley (fifth), Rebecca Tankersley (sixth) and Maddie Lindeman (seventh).
Holly McGinnis of Northpoint Christian School was the top finisher from a school based in DeSoto County. The Center Hill girls were the top DeSoto team finishing 11th.
Christopher Rayder won the boys race, finishing in 16:20. Arlington took the boys team title with CBHS second.
Southaven’s C.J. Nelson was the top DeSoto County finisher and the Chargers were the top DeSoto area school placing 12th overall in the boys race.
LAUSANNE TABS DAVIS
Marvis Davis had a good thing going at Germantown. But he feels things can be even better at Lausanne.
The Lynx named Davis as their head boys basketball coach Oct. 14. The post had been vacant for about a month after Kenneth White resigned to become the men’s basketball director of player development at Campbell University.
Davis won 89 games in his four seasons with the Red Devils, and this year’s team — led by senior standouts Rodney Williams and Darrell Brown — is expected to contend for state honors.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t say it bothered me to leave because it did,” Davis said. “I played those guys as sophomores and we had been building to this year, planning to win it all. It was extremely tough given the timing, but Lausanne was too good an opportunity to turn down.”
Davis inherits a Lausanne team that also should be a contender for the D2-A state title with four returning starters headed by highly regarded junior big man Isaiah Stokes. That — plus Lausanne’s academic reputation — was enough to convince the coach to make the move.
“It’s just the whole atmosphere at Lausanne,” he said. “The academic (side) and the athletic (side) work really well together. It’s more than just basketball. ... When you walk onto that campus, it’s just a great feeling.”
STARKVILLE — Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score to lead Mississippi State to a 45-20 victory over Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
Prescott had scoring throws of 5, 20, and 12 yards, and finished 30 of 43 for 347 yards passing without an interception.
Mississippi State (5-2) rallied from a 14-0 deficit in the first quarter and finished the first half with 24 points. Louisiana Tech (43) was led by Jeff Driskel as the former Florida transfer passed for 303 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
“We came out and started slow,” Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said. “But our preparation was good and we were on top of things.”
De’Runnya Wilson led the Bulldogs with seven catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns. His second-quarter touchdown tied the score at 17, and started a run of 21 points by Mississippi State.
Mississippi State and Louisiana Tech both had first-half success in the passing game and combined for 505 yards of total offense in the half. Louisiana Tech jumped to its 14-0 lead thanks to a pair of touchdown passes by Driskel in the opening quarter.
The Bulldogs responded with a dominating second quarter and turned the momentum late in the half when Donald Gray blocked a Louisiana Tech punt. On the next play, Prescott scored from two yards out to give Mississippi State a 24-17 lead, capping a 24-3 run to end the first half.
Mississippi State held Louisiana Tech to a field goal in the second half.
“That was a great effort on our part,” Mullen said. “This is the end of nonconference play, so we need to be ready for the grind that we’re about to go through over the next couple of weeks.”
The Bulldogs will be back in action this Saturday when they host Kentucky.