Fielder's Choice

I was doing a little high school basketball research last week.

That meant combing through old bound copies of The South Reporter or looking through some of the newspaper’s archives available online.

I uncovered lots of good stuff and in particular good memories.

I moved to Marshall County 21 years ago and found out rather quickly that this county loves its basketball.

The late Claude Vinson was one of the first to call me aside and let me know if the newspaper is going to be successful, it needs to intensely cover high school basketball. The sports editor had been around these parts for a long time, and he knew what he was talking about.

In the past 21 years, I’ve made lots of trips south on I-55 to Jackson.

Looking through those archives, the obvious comes to mind ­ the Holly Springs Hawks’ back-to-back state titles and the H.W. Byers Lady Lions’ amazing run of four state crowns in a row (and six in seven years).

I read several of Claude’s articles. He loved those trips to Mississippi Coliseum, better known this time of year as The Big House. If possible, he’d get a room and stay for a few days.

I saw names of players who made their marks at the high school level and went on and played college basketball. I saw lots and lots of photos capturing special moments in special seasons.

This year, the Holly Springs Hawks and the H.W. Byers Lions represented our county at Mississippi Coliseum.

They basically took two different routes to get there.

The Hawks got off to a rough start, pulled things together the second part of the season and advanced all the way to the Class 3A final four.

The Lions were on a path to The Big House all season. After making the state quarter-finals the past two seasons, there was no doubt about their goal this time around. And they came up just short in the Class 1A championship game.

Congrats to Holly High and Byers. Thanks for representing our county well ­ on and off the court in 2021-2022.

There were many other successes from our high school squads in Marshall County, too. One in particular that comes to mind quickly is the H.W. Byers Lady Lions. In 2020-2021 there were not enough varsity players signed up to put a team on the court. This year they made it to the first round of the playoffs.

Folks from out of town will ask me a lot about what I like most about covering high school basketball.

First of all, I love the game itself. Second of all, I really enjoy watching the players, being around the players and getting to know the players. They pour their hearts and souls into the games. They’re committed to the team. And being a part of a team, a true team, is perhaps the greatest thing about athletics.

It means a lot to me when they say, “Hey, Mr. Burleson” or “Hey, Newspaper Man.” It means a lot when they thank me for being there.

And there’s nothing I’ve enjoyed more the last 21 years than following our teams ­ from the area high school gyms all the way to Jackson.

I’m already looking forward to 2022-2023.