In 1965, six Bogue Chitto juniors and seniors stepped on the court inside the Mississippi Coliseum and played a hard game to come out as Mississippi’s overall state champion.

“Tricia’s famous words were ‘Man isn’t this a big gym,” Marilyn Brumfield Mullins recalled about teammate Patricia Lofton Douglass during a 50th reunion celebration earlier this month. “We were country girls gone to town.”

Mullins, Douglass and Charlotte Adams were seniors that year. Juniors Cheryl Brumfield Alexander, Marilyn Jordan Crum and Tomma Ebey Moore rounded out the starters.

Although 50 years had passed and each had gone through countless experiences since, each of the starters remained sharp and full of life in the Bogue Chitto library on a Friday afternoon. The passion each had for basketball, their team and the late Robert L. Calhoun still shone brightly.

Their reason for joining the basketball team all those years ago was easy to name.

“We didn’t have anything else to do,” Adams said.

Only Moore had a vehicle, and their only alternative was to work in the field. And though they dodged working at home, Calhoun made sure they worked at the gym.

“One time we ran 100 laps,” Douglass said. “He just wanted us to do good.”

Running wasn’t the only criteria. Calhoun would check to make sure the girls made their bed times and discouraged any boyfriends.

“If you did have a boyfriend, you didn’t let him know,” Crum said.

“Because of that I like to be an old maid,” Mullins said.

Every now and then, they’d plan rebellions against Calhoun, but nothing would ever come to fruition.

“We were scared to death of him,” Mullins said. “But we respected him.”

Of course, it wasn’t just Calhoun who got those girls to state. They benefited from a solid fan base.

“There were 3,000 people, and I could hear my dad screaming,” Moore said.

All six girls said that tradition is what has hung on the strongest. While they were playing basketball games, no matter what night of the week, the gym would be packed. Today, the Bogue Chitto community continues to come out to support their Bobcats.

The trifecta of discipline, determination and support brought the girls to the top of the basketball tournament. Bogue Chitto brought home the overall trophy, which meant they bested schools of all sizes. At the time, schools were broken down into four divisions: A, AA, B and BB, with A being the largest. Bogue Chitto was placed in the AA division.

Not only did they come out on top, but Alexander set the record for highest points scored in the Coliseum at 53. Although the record has since been broken, Douglass said it shouldn’t count since there were not any three pointers then.

Though the year ended, the bond didn’t.

“We’re all like sisters,” Crum said.