Here’s a look at the latest comings and goings involving athletics at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson.

 

Men’s Basketball

No MACCC men’s basketball team in the state got hotter than the Copiah-Lincoln Wolves after the Christmas holiday break.

Second-year coach David Sanders and his team found a winning formula as they played only six guys on most nights, cut down on turnovers, had tons of highlight worthy dunks and won close games on the road and at home.

The Wolves (18-5) ended the regular season with an 11-game winning streak and with the best record among MACCC teams, earned the state championship given out by the association.

The win streak started with a 76-74 win on the road at Jones College. It’ll be Jones that’s up next for Co-Lin as the teams are set to meet in Wesson at 6 p.m. in the second round of the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament.

A win would put Co-Lin in the semifinals against the victor between East Mississippi and Pearl River CC. The Region 23 semifinals and finals are scheduled to be played at Mississippi College on March 4-5.

Previously, state champions in the MACCC were determined by a state tournament, though the league moved away from that model for basketball this year.

The last state title for Co-Lin in men’s basketball came in 1999.

Jones College defeated Northeast Mississippi CC 86-62 in the first round of the Region 23 Tournament on Monday.

 

Women’s Basketball

The 2022-2023 season came to an end for Co-Lin on Monday in the opening round of the Region 23 Tournament.

The Wolves were paired up with Southwest Mississippi CC in the first round and it was the homestanding Bears that emerged victorious in Summit with a 73-48 win.

SMCC came in as the No. 7 seed in the tournament and Co-Lin was seeded No. 10.

The Bears led 14-12 after the first quarter and then pitched a shutout in the second quarter to lead 30-12 at the halftime break.

Southwest (17-10) moves on to play at No. 2 seeded Pearl River in the second round on Wednesday.

CLCC finishes with a record of 16-10 and was led in the loss by guard Leilani Lewis, who scored 12 points in 17 minutes of action.

Lewis (Baton Rouge), Tandria Minor (Brandon HS), Zykeria Anderson (Raymond HS), Ayanna McNairy (Brookhaven High), Jamey McDaniel (North Pike) and Kiersten Ball (Louisville HS) made up the sophomore class this season for longtime CL head coach Gwyn Young.

 

Softball

The nationally No. 5 ranked CLCC softball team and coach Meleah Howard are off to a 9-3 start to the 2023 season. All three losses have come against out of state competition in tournament settings. The Wolves went 2-2 in the Sun Chief Classic earlier this month in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

On the first day of that tourney, Co-Lin lost 10-2 to Marion Military Institute and 5-2 to Southern Union State Community College. Both Marion and Southern Union are Alabama based schools.

The team bounced back to beat two other Alabama community colleges on day two of the tournament. They beat Enterprise State CC 12-1 and Central Alabama CC 8-5.

On Saturday in a tournament played in Vicksburg and hosted by Hinds, Co-Lin beat Coastal Alabama-North 4-2 after losing their opener of the day 12-3 to Parkland College (Illinois).

Parkland (10-2) is ranked one spot behind Co-Lin at No. 6 in the latest NJCAA poll. Northwest Mississippi (10-0) is ranked No. 4.

As a Division II member, CLCC competes against NJCAA Division I programs throughout the non-conference portion of its schedule.

Local sports fans will want to schedule next Wednesday, March 8 as a great afternoon to come to Wesson and catch a Co-Lin game.

The team will host Northwest Florida State College for a doubleheader that begins at 2 p.m.

Northwest Florida is 22-2 overall and currently ranked No. 2 in the latest NJCAA Division I poll. The Raiders are coached by Andy Lee, who won six national championships earlier in his career at LSU-Eunice.

The series against Northwest Florida is the final non-conference matchup of the season for the Wolves before they start MACCC play on Feb. 15 at Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Sophomore infielder Maddie Weeks (Clinton Chrisitan) currently leads CLCC with a .568 batting average. Weeks also recently committed to continue her softball career at the University of Southern Mississippi.

 

Baseball

First year head coach Adam Chamblee and his program got big victory on Saturday with a 5-4 win over Meridian in a game played at Hinds CC in Raymond.

Meridian came in as the No. 9 team in the latest NJCAA Division II poll. They had already beaten Co-Lin 8-7 a week earlier in a game played in Wesson.

The Wolves (4-9) finally got a close win after having several close losses in their non-conference schedule.

The Wolves lost by one run (3-2) to Pensacola College, by one run (5-4) to Kaskaskia College and in the final inning to defending national champions Pearl River (10-7).

Chamblee and his team are back at home on Friday, March 10 against Lansing (Michigan) CC. The doubleheader starts at 3 p.m.