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QUITMAN — As a Dandy Dozen selection, Quitman High School’s Shonte Hailes served as a representation of sorts about the Lady Panthers’ high expectations going into this season. The 5-foot-6 senior point guard didn’t disappoint, finishing with 21.6 points per game, 6.9 rebounds per game, 4.8 assists per game and 2.8 steals per game as Quitman captured its first state championship in school history in March by defeating Florence High School in the MHSAA Class 4A title game. Lady Panthers coach Gina Skelton, meanwhile, secured her 800th career win during the course of the season and, by leading Quitman to a title, her fourth state championship ring. Because of their accomplishments, Hailes and Skelton have been named the 2015-16 Meridian Star All-Metro Player and Coach of the Year, respectively. “It’s an honor, to know your hard work paid off,” Hailes said. “Working in the gym extra hours and stuff paid off.” For Skelton, the honor is an accumulation of a lot of hard work by many different people. “It’s like I always say, it’s all about the kids,” Skelton said. “I tell them all the time when our team has success, then individual accolades come with that. They will come, but you need to push your team to be successful first.” Hailes’ postseason accolades include, on top of the championship ring, being regional MVP for three years running, All-Region for four years in a row, an All-State first-team selection by The Clarion-Ledger and the MHSAA and making a couple of All-Star games the last two years: the Junior Mississippi Association of Coaches North-South game and the MAC Mississippi/Alabama All-Star game. She will continue her basketball career at Southern Mississippi. Nothing came easy for Hailes, especially last year. Before Quitman’s second-round postseason game her junior year, Hailes was affected by the death of her sister, Sashaye Johnson, who was 18 and a student at Quitman at the time. Hailes recalls sitting at home and getting a message from Skelton, asking her if Skelton needed to make a game plan with or without her. Initially, Hailes told her coach to plan on her not playing. “I sat at home for about 30 minutes (after that), then I thought about how we came too far for me to let my team down,” Hailes said. “I thought about my teammates and how we all wanted this. I told my momma, ‘I have to go to school,’ and when I walked in the gym, they all said, ‘Dump!’” “Dump” being her nickname, Hailes said she fed off the excitement of others seeing her return to action and trying to play through the tragedy. That moment is one Skelton said she’ll never forget. “Basketball was something she knew she could come back to and lean on with her extended family here to help her get through that,” Skelton said. “I can’t say enough about that. She had a 30-something-point game (in round two), and it was like she was doing that in memory of her sister. A lot of kids would have folded up and went to pieces.” A loss to Bay High School late in the postseason last year denied Quitman a state championship, and Hailes said the memory of losing that game on a last-second shot provided extra motivation for her senior year. It also helped Skelton had newspaper clippings taped to their lockers reminding them of the loss. “The motivation being hung up on our lockers really pushed us an extra step to get back and win it,” Hailes said. The Lady Panthers were nearly denied a state title again in the Class 4A quarterfinals against Byhalia High School. It took a 3-pointer by Hailes as time expired in regulation to tie the game 51-51 and send it into overtime. From there, Hailes hit seven free throws to pace her team to a 60-52 win. “That’s what great players do,” Skelton said. “At crunch time, they’re going to put it on their shoulders and carry the load. She has a special God-given talent, and I’m very honored to have been her coach. I think she has a great future ahead of her.” Hailes credited a lot of her development to Skelton, who pushed her to constantly work to try to improve. “She’s the type of coach that doesn’t accept anything less than our best,” Hailes said. “She pushes us in the classroom, out of school, on campus, wherever. She wants us to be the best person we can be — it’s not just about basketball. “She points out your weaknesses and makes you work on those, and she’s the type of coach that coaches you a lot, and she walks you through every situation you can possibly be put in, so when you get into those situations, it’s like a cakewalk.” “Even saying that, without my assistants and without good players... I don’t care what any other coach says, you have to have some kids that are willing to sell out to your program, beliefs and philosophy,” Skelton said. “They have to be able to play. A coach is a factor, but there are so many other things that go into it. I’m just one small peg in the whole deal.” Skelton captured career win No. 800 during the season and currently has a career record of 826-274.

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