After Mother Nature’s deluge of ice across the area put a hiatus on the prep basketball schedule last week, District play begins in earnest on Thursday and Friday for Jonesboro-Hodge, Quitman, Weston, and Saline, with two playing at home and two hitting the road.
Play starts on Thursday, February 5th, with the Weston girls and boys looking to win their first District 1B contest of the season when they host Doyline. Tip-off for the first game is set for 6:00 pm. The Lady Wolves enter the contest with a 15-10 overall record and 0-1 in 1B play, while the boys teams stand at 10-16 overall and 0-1 in District action.
On Friday, February 6th, the girls and boys from JHHS and Quitman will be on the road with J-H making the long trek to Plain Dealing in District 1-1A play, and QHS will be traveling to Simsboro for a pair of 1B battles. Weston will welcome Georgetown for a non-district home contest, and Saline will host Claiborne Christian out of West Monroe in District 1C play. The girls will open play in all games at 6:00 pm, followed by the boys’ contests.
The Lady Tigers, now 12-14 overall, look to stay atop 1-1A after winning their first two district contests, while the J-H boys, sitting at 4-20 on the year, look to win their first district game after two losses.
The QHS girls and boys teams have the best records in the area with a 17-7 and 19-4 mark, respectively, with the Quitman boys at #4 in Class B holding the best power ranking among all area teams. They both look to stay atop the District 1B standings after winning their first two games by beating Simsboro on the road.
Weston will play a second game in two nights and only the 10th home game of the year when they play host to Class C Georgetown in a non-district battle with both WHS teams looking for a victory to improve their power ratings.
Saline welcomes Claiborne Christian to the friendly confines for a District 1C battle. With the best power rating among all local girls teams at #8 in Class C, The Lady Bobcats, who stand at 15-13 overall, look to move to 2-0 in District 1C play, while the SHS boys (17-11) look to even their district record at 1-1.
Tuesday Tilts!
JHHS 58 Ringgold 41: A 20-4 first-quarter advantage led to the most points scored in 2026 and kept the Lady Tigers atop the 1-1A standings with a 2-0 record. Ringgold fell to 5-16 overall and 0-2 in district play. Four Lady Tigers scored in double digits, led by 18 from Sanaa Tatum and 17 by Samone Mallard. Nesha Johnson and Jalenya Jackson both added 10 points apiece. Syla Malone also chipped in with a second-quarter three-pointer.
Quitman 46 Homer 28: A team leading and season best 9 boards by Kalishia Hall led Quitman to a decisive 45 to 25 rebound advantage, and a strong defensive effort limited Homer to just 9 field goals on 35 shots (26%). Allie Robertson led the offensive attack with 13 points, followed by Anna Claire Leach posting 12. Kinsley Ponder added 8, Emma Walker finished with four points, and Hallie Kate Pullig tallied three. Breelyn Boone, Taylor Borland, and Sophia Kleibert all chipped in with a basket each.
Weston 69 Dodson 28: A well-rounded team effort that saw 10 Lady Wolves score points led to Weston’s highest point total of the year. A season-best 14 points by Kate Keiffer, bolstered by a 3 of 4 effort from the 3-point line, led the offensive attack, with Carly Jo Griffin also reaching “double digits” with 10 points. Gracie Gray equaled her season high in points with 9, Rachel Bandy added 8 points and a team high 7 rebounds, while Mallory Malone had her second-best scoring game of the year with 7 points. Addison Faulkner scored 6, Teegan Hall finished with 5, and both Ada Claire Tidwell and DonNia Spence totalled four points each. Carlynn Waters also hit a basket.
Saline 62 Gibsland-Coleman 45: Morgan Cheatwood poured in 18 points to lead the Lady Bobcats to their 5th straight victory and highest point total of the year in Saline’s District 1C opener. G-Coleman fell to 10-12 overall and out of district title contention with a second straight loss. Kassidy Sims chipped in with 10 points, Jalynn Jiles netted 9, and both Tyla Malone and Ally Kate Hillman finished with 8 points each. Lanee Cheatwood scored 7, and Rayaunnah Person made a basket to round out the scoring.
Quitman 71 Homer 50: The Wolverines won their 15th straight game and continued to play “Giant Killer” by winning their 7th of 8 games against schools from a higher classification. Bradyen Martin, who came in with an 18.8 ppg average, exploded for 30 points for the second game in a row, which included a season-best six 3-pointers. Taden Thomas chipped in with 15, and Brayden Smith added 8 for the Wolverines, who shot 50% (28-56 ) from the field. Shane Reed scored 6, Abel Leach finished with 5, and Asher Schultz scored four points. Jack Thomas made a three-pointer as well.
Weston 72 Dodson 35: Gunner Younse scored 17 points to help the Wolves snap a four-game losing streak and eclipse their win total from a year ago. Ty Henderson and Brody Tidwell also reached “double-digits” in scoring with 11 and 10 points each, while Malachi Harris finished with 9 points. Abram Toms finished with five, Colton Otwell added four, and LetoCason Conn made a basket, and Leyton Younse sank a free throw.
Ringgold 52 JHHS 47: The Tigers dropped their 20th game of the season and 7th in the last 8 games after Ringgold won the fourth quarter by a 19-10 margin that erased a 37-33 Tiger lead after three quarters. Channing Gray Jr. led JHHS in scoring with 12 points, and both JaQuan Qualls and Tre Burns chipped in with 10 points apiece for the Tigers, who fell to 0-2 in District 1-1A play. Dylan Hayes ended up with 9 points, while King Campbell finished with four, and Kodan Atkins made a basket.
Gibsland-Coleman 84 Saline 67: In the battle between the #1 and #5 rated teams in Class C, the Bobcats gave up the most points all year to drop their District 1C opener against the Bulldogs, who improved to 21-2 overall and climbed to the district lead with a 2-0 mark. Eli Ferguson led the Bobcats with 24 points. Gavin Dailey added 10, and Jackson Bougues chipped in with 9 points, and both Conner Roberts and Elijah Calloway scored 8 points. Rylan Mauthe and Hayden Jackson rounded out the scoring by both making a fourth-quarter 3-pointer.
Games of Monday, February 2nd
JHHS 59 Weston 47: (Boys) – An 18-4 second quarter advantage lifted JHHS to its first victory at home this season and helped the Tigers snap a six-game losing streak. Four players reached double figures in scoring for J-H, with Dylan Hayes leading the way with 17 points. Both King Campbell and Channing Gray Jr. scored 13, and JaQuan Qualls chipped in with 12 points for the youthful Tigers. Lon’Trevious Burns finished with four points. Malachi Harris led Weston with 9 points, while Leyton Younse scored 7, and both Abram Toms and Brody Tidwell added 6 points each. Gunner Younse and Colton Otwell finished with four points apiece, Aiden Faulkner hit a three-pointer, and Ty Henderson, A.J. Woodard, and Cason Conn all made a basket.
Weston 56 JHHS 34: (Girls) – Leading 10-8, Weston went on a 20-point run to take a 35-20 halftime lead and never looked back in the all Jackson Parish battle. Kate Keiffer, Carly Jo Griffin, and Rachel Bandy, who also had a team-high 11 rebounds, all finished with 12 points each for Weston. Gracie Gray scored 6, Jakayla Fourd finished with four points, and both Teegan Hall and Ada Claire Tidwell tallied 3 points in the contest. Addison Faulkner and Carlynn Waters both made a basket to round out the scoring for the Lady Wolves, who took an incredible 70 shots in the contest. Sanaa Tatum led JHHS with 13 points, followed by Samone Mallard with 8 and Nesha Johnson with 5 points. Jalenya Jackson finished with four, and both Derryn Osborne and Syla Malone added a basket.