The Charleston High School Lady Tigers have been on a tear on the basketball court during the 2023-24 season, advancing to a Mississippi High School Activities Association second-round state playoff game Friday night in Charleston.
The game, which tips off at 6 p.m. in the Tigers Den, will see the 21-2 Lady Tigers host the 22-2 Calhoun City Lady Wildcats.
The Charleston team enters the matchup as back-to-back Region 3-2A champions, having won that trophy in 2023 and repeating Friday night with a 61-31 shellacking of Riverside to close a tournament at Northside.
The Charleston Lady Tigers added to their resume with a 49-40 home win over the Hatley Lady Tigers of Amory in a first-round state playoff Monday night.
Calhoun City advances to the second round by virtue of their 55-24 win over Eupora Monday night. The Lady Wildcats finished their tournament last week as runners-up in their region to Ingomar, dropping a 57-26 decision to the Lady Falcons in the Friday night championship game.
Charleston and Calhoun City battled earlier in the season, with Calhoun City notching a 56-44 win on the road.
After a late November 61-26 loss to Class 6A’s South Panola, Class 2A Charleston has been on fire, winning 17 games in a row.
“I want to encourage the community to come out Friday and support the Lady Tigers,” said CHS head coach Mandy Moore, whose team is 13-2 at home, while Calhoun City is 13-0 away.
Friday night’s winner will advance to the quarterfinals round and a 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23, tipoff at Northeast Mississippi Community College in Booneville to face the victor of Friday’s 19-5 Union Yellowjackets at the 19-5 New Site Royals contest.
In first-round games this week, Union had an almost triple margin of victory in defeating Bruce 63-22 while New Site more than doubled O’Bannon for a 70-34 win.
