Callaway makes history by winning the first girls’ basketball state championship

Jackson, Miss.-Callaway High School girls’ basketball team made history by winning the first state championship in the program’s history. The Lady Chargers defeated West Jones 51-46 in the MHSAA Class 6A state title game.

Callaway is led by Head Coach Ashli Sutton who took the team to a 30-3 season where they finished on a 15-game winning streak. 

The Lady Chargers started the game off hot as they took a 29-17 first half lead. Star player Jahanna “JoJo” Wilson scored 17 points in the first half and finished the game with 21 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. She averaged 17.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 4.5 steals this season.

Coach Sutton took over the program in 2021  and Callaway has became one of the top teams in the state over the last few years. The championship game was was a special moment due to Callaway losing to West Jones in the championship just two years ago.

“This championship is bigger than me, it’s bigger than my team, it’s bigger than Callaway, it’s for the city,” said Sutton in a postgame interview with Jake Wimberly of the NFHS network on MEtv. “We wanted to put on for the city. There is a lot of talk about how the Jackson Public Schools are not what they used to be. We wanted to let everybody know it’s still the same. We have a lot of students that start in Jackson Public Schools and then they go out to the private schools and other places. We just wanted to let them know that anything can happen in this district if you stay true to it.”

“Winning the state championship means the world for not just us, but for everyone involved with JPS because we were the only JPS school to make it to the state championship,” Wilson said. “So, to be able to represent the district was a major honor.”

Callaway also won the District Championship as they went 11-0 in regional play.