COLUMBIA, MO – Teams that advance to the MSHSAA Show-Me Showdown often refer to themselves as a ‘family,’ but for the MICDS girls basketball team, that description is more than just figurative.
Senior CeCe Harris and her freshman sister Lily, along with senior Jaila Haywood and her freshman sister Jordyn, made the most of their chance to play on the same high school basketball team this season.
“(Lily and I) played in the driveway and always talked about how cool it would be to play together,” CeCe Harris said.
Jordyn Haywood added, “It was important to me to make this season with my sister special.”
MICDS almost pulled off a comeback that would have been recited at family get-togethers for decades, but the Rams valiant effort fell just short, and the Rams settled for fourth place in Class 4 after a 60-58 loss to Logan-Rogersville at Mizzou Arena.
MICDS (23-8) earned its first state trophy since finishing as Class 4 runner-up in both 2015 and 2016.
“I thought about how far we’ve come since my first year here,” said CeCe Harris, who set the Rams’ single-season assist record earlier in the postseason. “It’s nice to be back to where I think we belong.”
The Rams traveled a long way on the scoreboard to set up a dramatic finish in the third-place game against Logan-Rogersville. Trailing 53-41 with three minutes to play, MICDS cranked up the defensive pressure and made a furious comeback.
Consecutive steals in the backcourt by Lily Harris led to layups by Jordyn and Jaila Haywood. A pair of three-point bombs by CeCe Harris, including one she banked in, closed the deficit to 55-52 in the final minute.
“All year we’ve been in situations where we’ve been down in games and we know what it takes to come back,” CeCe Harris said. “We create defensive pressure, and when we get confidence on the defensive end, our offense comes naturally.”
Jordyn Haywood rode the offensive wave by converting a tough lefty layup in traffic. Then she swished a corner three to pull the Rams within 58-57 with 21 seconds to play.
“We just battled,” MICDS coach Scott Small said. “We took every opportunity to get back in the game.”
After Logan-Rogersville sophomore Addison Cleghorn drained a pair of free throws to give the Wildcats a three-point lead, Watts called a timeout to discuss how to defend the final MICDS possession.
“We had four fouls to give, so we wanted to let them burn some time and then foul. It allowed our girls to be super-aggressive defensively,” Logan-Rogersville coach Cory Watts said.
The Wildcats successfully fouled twice, but their third foul occurred as Jordyn Haywood rose to shoot a corner three-pointer. It sent the MICDS freshman to the free throw line with three seconds remaining and a chance to tie the game.
“They listened well and fouled, but (the officials) called it a shooting foul,” Watts said. “When that happens, it happens, the world keeps spinning.”
Haywood made the first free throw, but the second one rimmed out, causing her to have to intentionally miss the final one. She aimed her shot at the right side of the rim and it ricocheted towards the sideline, where CeCe Harris dove to save it.
Harris whipped the ball behind her back and it landed in the hands of Jaila Haywood, whose 14-foot, baseline jumper circled the rim and spun out as the buzzer sounded.
“To get a look like that on a missed free throw, you can’t complain,” Harris said.
The furious fourth quarter comeback by MICDS earned the respect of the Wildcats (26-6).
“That was a wild game. Both teams really fought. It would have been easy for them to just hand it to us, and they didn’t,” Watts said.
Harris’ defense played a major factor in allowing MICDS to reverse the flow of the game after Logan-Rogersville junior Hailey Buckman exploded for 19 first-half points to propel the Wildcats to a 28-22 lead at intermission.
“I knew if we gave her another 19 in the second half, it wasn’t going to end well,” Harris said. “At halftime, we decided that I was going to faceguard her and we would help on the back side, and it worked.”
Buckman converted only two field goals after halftime, and the Rams eventually found their offensive rhythm. Haywood scored 17 of her 27 points in the second half and Harris added 12 points and five assists.
“We had some shooting woes and got ourselves in a hole, but I’m proud of the girls for coming back and making that run late,” Small said.
Harris added, “We had a choice. We could have quit, and I’m really proud of us for not quitting.”
MICDS finished with a 12-16 record last season, including losses in eight of their final 11 games. This year, MICDS began the season 11-1 and cruised through the postseason with an average margin of victory of 29.5 points per game to advance to the final four.
“I thought we might be a year away from competing at that level,” Small said. “I hope what they take out of this final four experience is not only the accomplishment of getting here, but how they set the tone for all the young ones coming up. I’m just really proud of the way they competed.”
That feeling of pride resonated throughout the season and culminated in Mizzou Arena with the ability to share core memories with family.
“With (Lily and I) doing this, and Jordyn and Jaila doing this too, it’s been so much fun,” Harris said. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I’m really grateful.”
For a photo gallery from this game, click on this link: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/2023-24-Girls-Basketball/Girls-Basketball-2024-25/MICDS-vs-LogRog-Class-4-Third-place
