Work, time has carried South Pemiscot basketball to this point

In Jordan McGowan’s view, the journey South Pemiscot High School varsity basketball has taken today has needed a village to construct, and no shortage of diligence.

“This is definitely a basketball community,” the fourth-year Bulldog coach explained of the Bootheel town of Steele.

South Pemiscot (17-9) is in uncharted waters today, as they face Hartville (27-2) in the MSHSAA Class 2 State Semifinal today in Columbia at 2 p.m. His players may be in a new position in their careers; as the Bulldogs have never advanced this far in the state tournament, however, McGowan isn’t.

As a player at Bernie High School, McGowan helped the Mules to a pair of Class 2 state runner-up finishes, before embarking on two seasons at Three Rivers Community College under Hall of Fame coach Gene Bess.

McGowan later served as an assistant coach under Bess, and credits not himself for South Pemiscot’s success, but his players.

“The kids, and the ones in the past, have all been accepting of, and wanting to work,” McGowan said. “They want to try and compete to win.

“We are athletic enough, and we are in the right classification to compete and to win.”

McGowan served as the head coach at Gideon High School for four seasons, with his final year being spectacular.

He led those Bulldogs in the 2019-20 season to 22 wins and earned the Tri-County Conference Coach of the Year honors. Following that season, he took the South Pemiscot position because he saw potential in the new group of Bulldogs.

“These kids have played a lot,” McGowan said of his young roster. “They have played this style since they were in the seventh grade when I got (to South Pemiscot).

“This has been a work in progress to get where we are since I came into South Pem.”

Under McGowan, South Pemiscot has won 17, 18, 15, and now, 17 games, and has a pair of Class 2 District 1 titles (also winning in 2021-22).

“I came in when these (current) guys were seventh and eighth graders,” McGowan said. “I put in the (offensive and defensive systems) as the junior high coach.”

McGowan has since turned the middle school coaching duties over to others, but those coaches “have kept the style of play that I want going,” according to the coach.

South Pemiscot has just one senior (Jadie Morton) and McGowan utilizes two freshmen (Tyriquis Campbell and Damarius Mayberry), three sophomores (Robert Farmer III, Jaterion Smith, and Logan Southern), and one junior (Torrell Boyd).

“Last year,” McGowan said, “we were (15-13) and those sophomores were freshmen, and they weren’t quite there yet.”

The Bulldogs are “there” now, as they pursue the program’s first state championship.

“Hartville does a phenomenal job,” McGowan said. “They are holding teams to (38.1 points per game). They are extremely well coached, and they have been here multiple times in Class 2 and Class 3.”

In the past decade, the Eagles have won Class 2 titles in 2016 and 2020, before claiming the Class 3 championship in 2021. They finished fourth last year in Class 2.

“It’s going to be a tall task,” McGowan said of advancing to the championship game, “but I think that we have a shot. Hopefully, we can get it done.”