Who does 'South Pem' need to focus on vs. Cooter? Yes.

With the Cooter High School boy’s basketball squad being the top seed in Wednesday’s MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 semifinals, the Wildcats are expected to advance to the championship game on Friday after beating No. 4-seed South Pemiscot. However, history shows that this “rivalry,” as veteran Cooter coach David Mathis said of facing the Bulldogs, has been dominated by South Pemiscot, not Cooter.

“Wednesday will be a heavy-pressure day for us,” Mathis said. “We are, on paper, probably supposed to win. If we lost, I’d feel bad, because we lost, but I’m not saying that it can’t happen. It could happen.”

South Pemiscot had beaten Cooter 11 straight times prior to falling 75-64 last month at home versus the Wildcats.

The Bulldogs (15-12) and Wildcats (23-3) will play at 6 p.m. at Holcomb High School, while Bernie (21-6) and Neelyville (13-12) will play at 7:30 p.m.

South Pemiscot got past the host Hornets 84-63, but will now have to deal with a deep and talented Cooter group.

“’South Pem’ is a rivalry,” Mathis said. “They are two miles away from us (officially three, but who is counting).”

South Pemiscot is going to have to focus on Cooter, as a team, not any one individual player, because the Wildcats, who have won more games this season than any other Wildcat team since the 1950s, have a long list of players who can hurt the opposition, starting with returning Class 1 All-State selection Lukas Barnes, who is the only player in Wildcat history to earn that designation.

“Lukas can go inside or out,” Mathis said of how Barnes scores the ball. “That is the thing with him, he is a mismatch.”

The 6-foot-4 athlete can score on all three levels and has over 1,500 career points. He was the 2022 Tri-County Conference Player of the Year and is averaging 22 points per game this year.

“He can shoot the (3-pointer),” Mathis continued, “and he can shoot mid-range, and he can post you up. He is one of the tougher kids to guard because he could be my point guard, too.”

Mathis doesn’t have to give that task to Barnes, though, because he has 6-foot-3 senior Rhoads Lynn for that job.

“Rhoads is the one who handles everything,” Mathis said, “and gets the ball up and down the floor. He runs all of our set plays, and he can score, as well.”

Lynn and Barnes have combined for “30 or 40 dunks this year,” according to Mathis, and Lynn is averaging 18 points per game.

If those two aren’t scoring to their ability, Mathis can also get offense from 6-foot-3 senior Carson Swan, who is averaging 16 points each night.

“Swan is my two-guard,” Mathis said. “He is a shooter, and he can score off the dribble, too. Those three guys are a mismatch for everybody.”

Pearce Watkins is a 6-foot senior, who “knows his role,” which is to contest corner shooters in the back of the Cooter zone.

Hayden Nazarenus also plays the backside of that defense and has taken over 50 charges this season, which ranks third all-time in MSHSAA history.

“He took 50-some charges last year and had some back issues,” Mathis said of the Crowder Community College baseball commit, “and he wasn’t going to play this year.”

Nazarenus couldn’t NOT join his classmates for this special season and healed up and has been the Wildcats’ “glue guy,” according to Mathis.

“He just lays his body on the line,” Mathis said. “He dives for loose balls (too).”

Mathis brings Thomas Hays, Tyson Banks, 6-foot-7 Caleb Gunnels, and 6-foot-3 Jude Lomas off the bench, each of whom has contributed to helping the program win both the Tri-County Conference regular season championship (with an unbeaten record), as well as the league tournament.

The Wildcats last won a District title in 2020, when some of his nine seniors were getting varsity time.

This group of seniors has won 75 games over four seasons, which is the most for a class in Cooter basketball history.

“That whole class is athletic,” Mathis said. “We have an athletic group. We have a well-rounded team.”