The championships of the 2026 MHSAA Basketball Tournament were held on Saturday, March 7, 2026. Photo by Keith Warren

Columbus wins 2026 Boys Class 5A Basketball Championship

March 7, 2026 Basketball, Basketball Championships, Championship Results, Championships, News 678 Views

Game summary by ChatGPT

Columbus High School broke the game open before halftime and beat Holmes County Central High School 52-38 on Saturday, March 7, 2026, in an MHSAA boys game. Columbus led 12-10 after one quarter, dominated the second period 19-2 and carried a 31-12 lead into halftime.

The decisive stretch came midway through the second quarter. Columbus turned a 16-10 lead into a 31-10 cushion with a 15-0 run keyed by Tylan Brown, Michael Hood Jr. and Davie Verdell. Brown scored nine points during the burst, Verdell added a 3-pointer, and Columbus held Holmes County Central scoreless for more than seven minutes before Julius Mathis scored with 59 seconds left in the half.

Brown led Columbus with 17 points and 8 rebounds, Verdell added 15 points and Hood scored 13 points with 6 rebounds. Columbus shot 20 of 37 from the field and held Holmes County Central to 14 of 46 shooting.

L Crawford scored 20 points and made 4 3-pointers for Holmes County Central, while Mathis added 6 points and 8 rebounds. Holmes County Central cut the deficit to 11 in the third quarter, but got no closer.

Box Score

Holmes County Central High School vs Columbus High School
Date: 03/07/26
Site: Not listed

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Holmes County Central High School	10	2	10	16	38
Columbus High School	12	19	7	14	52

Team Totals

Team	FG	3PT	FT	Fouls	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks	Turnovers
Holmes County Central High School	14-46	4-16	6-8	14	23	2	8	0	12
Columbus High School	20-37	3-12	9-12	7	27	6	7	1	15

Holmes County Central High School

Player	PTS	FGM-FGA	3FGM-3FGA	FTM-FTA	AST	REB	REBO	REBD	STL	FOULS	TO
Debroski Kimbrough #3	0	0-2	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Devante Simpson #10	5	2-6	0-0	1-2	1	3	1	2	1	5	4
Gary Brown	0	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	2	1	1	0	2	0
Jayden Jefferson #4	5	2-8	0-3	1-2	0	2	0	2	1	4	3
Julius Mathis #5	6	3-9	0-2	0-0	0	8	3	5	2	0	2
Kendarious Greer #31	2	0-5	0-4	2-2	1	3	0	3	2	0	0
Kevon Hoggan #20	0	0-3	0-1	0-0	0	1	1	0	1	0	1
L Crawford #2	20	7-11	4-4	2-2	0	4	2	2	0	3	1
TEAM #1000	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
William Dean #24	0	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Columbus High School

Player	PTS	FGM-FGA	3FGM-3FGA	FTM-FTA	AST	REB	REBO	REBD	STL	BLK	FOULS	TO
Courtney Perry #5	2	0-3	0-2	2-2	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	1
Davie Verdell #24	15	6-8	1-1	2-3	1	4	1	3	1	1	3	5
Jawaun Thomas #21	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1
M Leach #3	3	1-5	1-4	0-0	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	2
Michael Hood Jr #22	13	6-9	0-1	1-1	1	6	0	6	0	0	1	0
TEAM #1000	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	6	3	3	0	0	0	1
Tylan Brown #2	17	6-10	1-3	4-6	2	8	0	8	3	0	3	4
Tyson Sims #1	2	1-2	0-1	0-0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1