Northeast Lauderdale’s Charity Hinton carries in a one-hander for a layup against Pass Christian Friday night.

Charity Hinton honed her early basketball skills by playing against her older brother, Ricky, and his friends. The freshman refined those skills over the years, and she made the leap to varsity at the end of last season in order to take her game to an even higher level.

Hinton’s early basketball education has proven invaluable for the Lady Trojans all season, and Friday night was no different, as she scored a game-high 25 points to power Northeast Lauderdale ahead of Pass Christian 63-46 in the second round of the MHSAA Class 4A playoffs.

“It helped me to be tougher, so that way when I go out here with the girls, it’s just like I was playing with the boys,” Hinton said. 

The Lady Trojans advance to play Lanier (26-3) in Class 4A’s third round at 7 p.m. Monday.

Northeast Lauderdale (25-3) trailed Pass Christian 13-5 with 2:31 left in the first quarter but went on an 8-0 run late in the quarter to tie the score at 13 with 1:39 remaining. A Pass Christian (23-8) free throw and field goal in the last 1:29 gave the Lady Pirates a 16-13 advantage to close the opening frame. 

Northeast Lauderdale’s Daysha Robinson swiped the basketball from a Pass Christian player on the Lady Pirates’ first possession of the second quarter and flipped it down to Molly Moore, who sailed in for a layup. Hinton added two free throws at the 6:06 mark to push the Lady Trojans ahead 17-16.

Northeast Lauderdale didn’t surrender the lead for the duration of the contest.

Kennedi Jimison connected on one of two free throw attempts to give the Lady Trojans an 18-16 advantage, and Hinton proceeded to hit two 3-pointers, while adding a three-point play following a foul, to send Northeast Lauderdale ahead 27-19 with 2:54 left before halftime. 

Jimison, Moore and Hinton closed out the second quarter with 3-pointers, as Northeast Lauderdale took a 36-23 lead into the break.

The Lady Trojans connected on eight 3-pointers in the first half, and Hinton ended the opening 16 minutes with 19 points. 

“She came up and practiced with us and ran the scout team, and she got in a few minutes in two playoff games, but not a ton,” Northeast Lauderdale coach Lewis Lightsey said of Hinton’s role last year. “Molly (Moore) was injured with a shoulder over the summer, and Charity was the point guard all summer. Molly came back, and we never missed a beat.”

Northeast Lauderdale outscored Pass Christian 12-8 in the third quarter, as five Lady Trojans tallied points to give their team a 48-31 lead to enter the fourth quarter. 

The Lady Trojans went 10 of 12 from the charity stripe in the final period, and Robinson tallied a team-high five fourth-quarter points to close out the Lady Pirates. 

Robinson and Nesha Moss spearheaded a strong rebounding effort in the paint for the Lady Trojans.

“I’m proud of our bigs, too,” Lightsey said. “They got down there and they banged and fought and rebounded and really did a good job. I thought we could win by 15 or 20 if guarded really well and played well, and that’s kind of where we are.”

Moss finished with 15 points, while Moore and Jimison each scored eight. 

Moore entered the game early in the first quarter, just a few days after spraining her ankle Tuesday against South Pike. Lightsey said Moore, as a precautionary measure, sported a walking boot throughout the week.

“Molly played on a really bad ankle sprain,” Lightsey said. “She came in banged up. Wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to play… she toughed it out.”

Emory Benoit’s 12-point effort led all Pass Christian scorers. Ambria Christophe, Jeasonna Alexander and Cayla Obillo chipped in with eight.