Walnut finishes strong at Hatley; McConnell takes seventh at Topper Trails
Walnut answered a second-set loss with two decisive sets Thursday, beating Hatley 3–1 to remain unbeaten in district volleyball on a day that also brought the Wildcats a top-seven individual finish at the Topper Trails High School Classic.
The Sept. 24 road victory over second-place Hatley extended Walnut’s Class 2A Region 1 record to 7–0. The Wildcats won 25–16, 21–25, 25–10, 25–12, outscoring the Tigers 50–22 over the final two sets after the match stood level. Walnut improved to 23–4 overall; Hatley slipped to 5–2 in the region, according to MaxPreps’ match report and district standings.
Pine Grove added a fifth consecutive win with a 3–0 sweep at Biggersville. Four of those five victories have come in straight sets. The Panthers, now 18–10, also swept Biggersville at home a week earlier.
Wheeler reversed its earlier loss to Falkner, sweeping the visiting Eagles 25–21, 25–17, 25–14. Falkner had won their Sept. 15 meeting in five sets and entered Thursday with three consecutive victories. The loss left the Eagles 7–13 overall and 5–3 in district play.
On the cross-country course at Blue Mountain Christian University, James McConnell led Tippah County’s boys with seventh place in 18 minutes, 6 seconds over 5 kilometers. Landon Jones followed in 22nd at 18:58 as Walnut scored 242 points for seventh among 23 scoring teams, just two points ahead of East Webster in the MileSplit results.
Blue Mountain finished 16th with 418 points, paced by Cason Gentry’s 55th-place 20:27 and Caleb Galvez’s 68th-place 20:44. Pine Grove placed 23rd with 681, led by Peyton Rushing in 148th at 24:48. Ripley’s Braylyn Derrick finished 167th in 25:53, followed by Kolton Strong, 181st in 27:23, and Joaquin Martinez, 212th in 33:41; the Tigers did not post a team score.
Adrianna Bolden supplied the county’s highest girls finish, taking 25th in 25:39 for Blue Mountain. Teammates Addison Gentry and Ava Beaty placed 52nd in 28:13 and 87th in 32:46.
Ripley’s Dasha Rowland and Kailyn Shead placed 43rd and 44th in 27:38 and 27:40. Amberlyn Wallace was 89th in 32:53 and McKinley Osborn 109th in 37:39. Walnut’s Rhodes Taylor placed 96th in 34:05, while Pine Grove’s Mariah Waldon finished 110th in 38:45. None of the four county girls programs recorded a team score.
In boys golf, Falkner’s Preston Jackson shot 44 to finish 11th overall in Thursday’s nine-hole match at Booneville, leading the Eagles, according to the school’s report.
