By Austin Bishop
When the Jackson Clarion-Ledger newspaper hit the streets on Tuesday morning, first-year McAdams High School girls basketball coach Marvin McGee got at least a little bit of what he has been pleading for over the last couple of months — respect for his Lady Bulldogs.
McAdams was ranked No. 4 in the Clarion-Ledger's girls basketball Super 10, something McGee said was a long time coming.
"We can compete, that's what I've been saying the whole time," said McAdams head coach Marvin McGee, who continues to stress the point that his team and the players aren't getting the respect they deserve.
"We should have had some Dandy Dozens and we should have had some All-Stars. We have been overlooked because of the size of our school."
Each year the Jackson Clarion-Ledger picks the top 12 girls and boys basketball players in the state, dubbing them Dandy Dozens. In post-season interviews during the MHSAA Class 1A State Tournament the last two weeks and Thursday at the Grand Slam, McGee has been sure to make that point to Clarion-Ledger prep sports writer Rod Walker, who helps make those selections.
"The point is being made," McGee said of his team's run to the state crown and first-round win in the Grand Slam. "We have come to play. Just because we are 1A, that doesn't mean anything."
The Lady Bulldogs of McAdams High School, which won back-to-back Class 1A State Championships by knocking off Myrtle in the title game a week earlier, beat Class 2A Champion Newton 83-72 in the first round of the MHSAA Grand Slam on Thursday. McAdams had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter against 6A Horn Lake on Friday, but dropped a 61-59 overtime decision.
Raymond, which won the Grand Slam and finished with a 33-1 record, was ranked No. 1, followed by Horn Lake and New Albany, a team that defeated McAdams in the regular season.
Rounding out the Super 10 are Greenville, Lafayette County, Newton, Wayne County, Hattiesburg and Harrison Central.
