PHILADELPHIA — On the way to their 2012 Region 3 championship, the Starkville High sent a message to the rest of the Mississippi schools still eligible in the Class 5A boys basketball tournament.
When the Yellow Jackets seemingly want to showcase that highly critical killer instinct that all title contending teams need to have, they are fully capable of doing so in a big way.
Starkville did find themselves at one point down by two to Canton Friday night and then proceeded to finish the evening by scoring 40 of the final 46 points in the contest to blow out the Tigers 62-30 at Neshoba Central High School.
“We were just flat and just started playing better,” Starkville High coach Greg Carter said with a smile.
“We just started to attack the basket and play with a lot of energy.”
Carter debated in his own mind calling a timeout but senior forward Torrey Rice asserted himself on the low block and on the glass for putbacks to give SHS the lead back for good. This left Carter with no decision at all allowing his veteran bunch to play through its first adversity of the postseason.
Rice would finish the night with 13 points.
“I was on the verge of calling the timeout but I felt we weren’t really rattled,” Carter said. “We didn’t really need to regain any composure because all I hoped for was us to knock down a few open shots.”
After the final lead change of the night, the tempo suddenly shifted into an overdrive transition style that better suited the Yellow Jackets.
Starkville won all three matchups with Canton throughout the 2011-12 season by double digits. The Jackets won both games of the region tournament play by an average of 35 points.
SHS senior center Gavin Ware, who two months ago signed a National Letter-of-Intent with Mississippi State led all scorers with 16 points and had to work for every aggressive two-handed slam while working against Canton’s 300-pound post threat McDarion Abron.
“Every time we come together it’s who is going to overpower who,” Ware said. “He’s so big and hard to get around that I really had to bring out everything I’ve worked on throughout the year to the court tonight.”
Ware had two dunks in the first quarter to keep SHS energized to cruise to a 22-16 halftime advantage. The 6-foot-8 center, who missed the playoffs last year after suffering a severe knee injury, said he’s intent on having his final high school postseason run end with a trip to Jackson and a state championship trophy.
“We decided as a group that we’re not going home with a loss,” Ware said. “It’s that chemistry that we have that led us tonight.”
Canton would take the lead after four consecutive baskets to start the third quarter and then went over 10 minutes without another point. It was at time, Starkville guard Steve Brand shut down Canton leading scorer Rakeem Esco and the senior guard would only have five points through the final two quarters of play.
Carter said after the game that teams his squad faces later in this playoff run will try to not only get a copy of the tape or try to burn up the phone line of Canton High coach Melvin Gillum to see how the slow-down tempo works against the Yellow Jackets.
Starkville will host Lake Comorant to open north state playoff action Tuesday.
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