Big Sandy basketball gave the state’s No. 4 team all the competition they wanted in the regional finals Friday, but Mumford was able to come away with a 41-35 win.
“We were up in the first quarter by six,” Big Sandy coach Dalton Flowers recalled. “They kind of took the second quarter pretty handily from us. I didn’t think we were getting back on defense, and we weren’t stopping the ball. I think they were up nine at halftime and we were also in foul trouble. Their size – they start three guys over 6-foot-3. Their best player is and their post player is, and then they start another wing that is also 6-foot-4. That gave us fits too, because we are just not that big.”
The coach said his group talked at halftime about what had gone wrong and was able to take a one-point lead at 30-29 with a minute left to go in the third. Yet, in the fourth quarter, Mumford began to pull away. The Wildcats closed to within two with 34 seconds remaining, but the Mustangs were able to finish the contest strong.
“I feel like if we played 10 times, it is probably 5-5 or one of us 6-4,” Flowers said. “I feel like we are both pretty even. They just got the best of us Friday night.”
Jamesley Flowers led the team with 15 points, while Naki Thompson had eight.
Mumford, ranked No. 4 in the state, lost Monday to the state’s No. 2 team and Flowers’ alma mater, Martins Mill, in the state semifinals.
After an impressive run in the playoffs, Big Sandy will lose three seniors to graduation. Jake Shotwell, Shudey Beene-Williams, and Jamesley Flowers are the three biggest players on a team already lacking size. Flowers is the top scorer on the team, while Beene-Williams was second, and Shotwell was a 3-point threat.
However, a strong group of sophomores with plenty of experience should lead the team. The coach said five of the team’s top seven players would return for the 2026-27 season.
“I think there’s going to be a bit of a learning curve next year, but I expect us to keep it going,” he said. “It is just going to be a totally different style of play next year.”
Coach Flowers said he will remember the 31 wins, regional finals and a team that reached their goals.
“The goals for themselves were to reach the regional tournament. In September or October, I didn’t think that we were on track to do that and we had a serious sit-down. I didn’t think we were being very tough. After we had that talk and got a little more serious in practice, our identity kind of took over in how well we defended and how much we stopped the other team from scoring.”
