Counted Out But Never Finished: The South Side Lady Hawks

Story and Photos by Kristy Sherrod

As you enter the city limits of Jackson, Tennessee, on either direction of Highway 45 there is a sign that gives passersby a brief insight into a school, a team, and a tradition that has its home  just two miles from the South Fork of the Forked Deer River. If you continue driving south from that river, you will cross the bridge just past the fairgrounds, and enter the territory known as Hawk Nation–the domain of South Side High School and the Hawks. South Side has held a long-standing local tradition of achievement in both academics and athletics, and for the past three years that tradition has taken a spot on the state stage—at least in girls’ basketball.

Remember that sign mentioned earlier? It reads “South Side High School, Lady Hawks Basketball, 2022 3A Runner-Up, 2023 State Champs.” But what you won’t see on the sign is the hard work and dedication that has made the Lady Hawks basketball team a force to be reckoned with in Jackson and in Tennessee. The last three years have been a storied tenure for the Lady Hawks with all three of their seasons ending with an appearance at the famed “Glass House” in Murfreesboro. Officially known as the Murphy Center on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University, this is the home of the TSSAA State Basketball Tournament where a team from Jackson, Tennessee, has made their presence known under the bright lights of the basketball court. While the Lady Hawks had five state tournament appearances from 1966-2017, it has been the 2022, 2023, and 2024 appearances where the Lady Hawks established the fact that they deserved the same respect as the other teams who have always seemed to dominate girls’ Division I basketball in Tennessee. Led by head coach Brent McNeal and assistant coach Adrian Comer, these three teams made a name for both South Side and Jackson that the Jackson-Madison County community can wear with pride as they were often one of the few West Tennessee teams to make it to the tournament.

In 2022, the Lady Hawks defeated some of the top teams in their class to make it to the championship game–defeating Greeneville and Page, but ultimately falling in a close game to the Upperman Lady Bees 43 to 48. I was there at that game, and I watched as Coach McNeal, Coach Comer, and the Lady Hawks sadly, but still with beaming pride, hoisted a silver basketball trophy up as the second best team in Class 3A. Then came the storied 2022-2023 season–this was the season it seemed those of us in Hawk Nation just knew was our year. As is often the case, the Lady Hawks dominated many of their games, and even had to face adversity long before the state tournament when a leak in the Chester County High School gym forced a change of venue to Freed-Hardeman University mid-game during the region tournament. The Lady Hawks had won the district title and region titles with relative ease, but those weren’t the goal–the goal was the Glass House once again. Once again to prove they belonged under the bright lights of the Murphy Center and that they could and would bring the lauded gold ball back to Jackson. By the luck of the TSSAA draw, the first round of the state tournament held a rematch of the previous year’s championship game–Lady Hawks vs. Lady Bees. Yes, you read that right…the first round was between South Side and Upperman–the two teams that likely would’ve had a championship rematch had the cards fallen correctly. But we were ready for the first round rematch instead. A 44-31 win in that game secured the Lady Hawks a spot in the semifinals against Elizabethton. 

The Lady Hawks had been tested various times throughout their regular season and tournaments, but it was this game that would go down in the record books at the state tournament and also show that the Lady Hawks deserved every moment at the state tournament level. In a game where the score was tied eight times and the lead changed seven, the Lady Hawks emerged victorious after playing a basketball game and a half with a score of 84-76 after two overtimes. It was back to the championship game versus Livingston Academy where the Lady Hawks never once lost the lead and were able to bring the gold ball back to the Hawk Nation. A perfect season at 34-0, a Miss Basketball winner with senior Timia Lawson, and also a finalist for the state record of best three-point field goal percentage in the championship game for senior Albany Collins. The Lady Hawks are the only team in Madison County, boys or girls, to have an undefeated season with a state championship. In my office at South Side, I even have a basketball signed by the team and coaches. It was a storied season for the Lady Hawks and a source of immense pride for Jackson. A couple of weeks following the championship game, during the Gold Ball Celebration, the Lady Hawks and South Side were surprised with the sign you now see on the north and south routes of Highway 45, commemorating both the 2022 and 2023 state tournament championship game appearances. Then everyone counted them out. 

It wasn’t a secret that the 2023-2024 Lady Hawks roster was young, with several freshmen and only two seniors. But returning were senior Kimora Currie and junior Jaidynn Askins who helped the previous year’s team reach gold ball status. But that wasn’t enough for many in the media and others in the Jackson area. South Side will make it back to the tournament, they said; it just wouldn’t be in 2024. The team wasn’t strong enough, they were too young, they couldn’t do this for the third year in a row. But one thing we like to do out here south of the Forked Deer River in the Hawk Nation is prove everyone wrong…and so the Lady Hawks did. Everyone counted them out…until the district and region tournaments where the Lady Hawks beat rival Chester County in both championship games. There was still the sectional game against the Macon County Lady Tigers to go, but that was just another rung in the state tournament ladder. In their usual dominant fashion, the Lady Hawks came out on top with a 48-23 win and down came the nets once again as they headed to the Glass House. It was also a bittersweet win for one former Lady Hawk (or Hawkette as they were when she played)--for principal Anita Tucker, this would be her final home game after having served as only the second principal in the last 31 years at South Side (her predecessor was Jimmy Arnold). As she climbed the ladder to cut down a piece of the net, the gym erupted in both tears and cheers as the Lady Hawks once again added a notch in their belt of recognition in Tennessee girls’ basketball. It was on to the ‘Boro along with three other Class 3A teams from West Tennessee–Chester County, South Gibson, and Dyersburg. And this time, they all played each other with Chester County playing South Gibson and the Lady Hawks playing Dyersburg in the quarterfinals. 

The Lady Hawks did fall to the eventual state champions, the Dyersburg Lady Trojans, in the quarter finals, but their name has been forever etched in Tennessee girls’ basketball across the state. From the medium sized public school south of the Forked Deer River to the Glass House, the Lady Hawks have created a tradition like no other for Jackson and Madison County, and it is one that we can all be proud to call our own. The team everyone seemed to count out so many times for so many years, holds their place in the history of Tennessee and Jackson, but perhaps the most valuable place they hold is in the hearts of those of us in the Hawk Nation who beam with pride at the girls who stood out among the rest because just when you think they can’t, you find out they are never finished. 

Congratulations to Coach McNeal, Coach Comer, South Side High School, and, of course, the Lady Hawks.