By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

JACKSON — This year marks just the second trip ever for the St. Martin girls basketball team in the history of the program to the overall state Final Four here at the Mississippi Coliseum.
However, second-year Lady Yellow Jackets head coach Jason Kennedy is back in the Big House for the second time in five years.
And, he hopes to lead his current crew to the same status that his former one achieved.
St. Martin is attempting to become the second ever girls hoops squad from Jackson County to ever appear in a state title tilt when the Lady Yellow Jackets face defending Class 6A state champion Germantown in the first-ever Class 7A Final Four semifinal round at 10:30 a.m., Thursday morning.

The winner meets the survivor of the first semifinal game which pits Tupelo vs. Northwest Rankin Saturday night for the state championship.
Kennedy guided Pearl to the Class 6A girls state championship in 2019. Now, he can double his pleasure with two more wins by his Lady Yellow Jackets squad.

“We have a special group. Our leaders have made sure that we stayed locked in and focused on each individual task,” Kennedy said, in an exclusive interview with SouthMiss6 Sports after practice Wednesday afternoon. “We knew we had a chance to get to the big house from the beginning. Going into the district tournament I told the girls not to listen to all the talk about the end game stay focused on each game and just win the next game.”
The Lady Yellow Jackets stand 25-7 overall on the season, marking the best record for the program since 2016. That season, eight years ago, then head coach Gina Bell guided SMHS to a 28-3 mark and the first ever berth in the Final Four for the program. Jackson Callaway knocked off SMHS 69-56 in the overall semifinal round to end that season.
“I told my team don’t be so focused on the mountain in the distance that you stumble on the pebble at your feet,” Kennedy added. “And they have done just that. We picked up two huge wins for our program in the district tournament over Harrison Central in the semifinals and Biloxi in the championship game. We are just trying to build off that momentum and get a little better every day.”
The Lady Mavericks come in at 22-9 overall and winners of seven straight games as well as eight of their last nine contests. Germantown reached the Final Four with a 54-28 thumping of Madison Central Saturday in the North State quarterfinal round.
Last season, Germantown, behind Mississippi’s Gatorade Player of the Year Madison Booker, finished a spectacular 29-3 overall and captured the crown with toppling Tupelo 64-43 in the title tilt thanks to 22 points and nine rebounds from Booker.

Thankfully, Booker is in Austin, Texas this season and is the leading candidate to win National Freshman of the Year honors for her outstanding play with the Lady Longhorns and head coach Vic Schaffer at the University of Texas.
Kennedy hopes his experience five years ago when he grabbed the Gold Ball will be just as vital to St. Martin as a return trip could be for the Lady Mavericks this season. The Lady Yellow Jackets mauled Meridian 49-26 Saturday in the Class 7A South State Quarterfinal round to punch their ticket to Jackson.
“Having been here before myself this is something that I really wanted these young ladies to experience first hand,” Kennedy said. “The hard work investments that they have been putting in over the last 2 years has paid off.”

St. Martin was coming off a paltry 12-17 mark to end 2022 when Kennedy arrived on campus. The Lady Yellow Jackets bounced back to have a winning record last season at 15-13, but struggled in region action and failed to make the state playoffs.
“Last year our point guard Kylenn Ward went down early in the season with a knee injury and she took it hard,” Kennedy added. “She loves this game so much and that put some of our other players in spots where they really weren’t comfortable so we saw a ton of adversity that season. I feel like we grow through what we go through, meaning we grew up a lot during that time. She’s back and she’s playing great for us and everyone else has stepped their game up as well.”
And, St. Martin needs to take two more steps, including the first one Thursday morning, to make not only school but South Mississippi history as well.