STARKVILLE — Starkville High School senior basketball player Raphael Leonard is enjoying his team’s run.
“We let a (state championship) ring slip away in football,” said Leonard, a standout wide receiver headed to Florida Atlantic University on a football scholarship. “So I am really highly motivated right now. I sure would like to make sure I get this one.”
Leonard and the Yellow Jackets are headed back to Jackson for the fist time since Gavin Ware led the school there in the 2011-12 season.
Starkville (23-5) will take on Hattiesburg (20-8) at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Athletics & Assembly Center on the campus of Jackson State University in the quarterfinal round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A playoffs.
The MHSAA eliminated the North State/South State playoff format this season. Starkville will head to Jackson needing three wins to secure the school’s first basketball championship since 2010.
“This team is really excited,” Starkville junior Tyson Carter said. “We know if we play like we are capable of playing, we can get us a ring. If we play like we are supposed to, it will be hard to beat us. Even though we haven’t been to Jackson the last couple of years, we have a high confidence level in our abilities. When we play to our potential, we can be really good basketball team.”
The Starkville boys enter the quarterfinal round on a 10-game win streak. The Yellow Jackets finished year with a perfect 13-0 mark at home. In the postseason, Starkville rolled past Columbus and Madison Central avenging two regular-season defeats to win the Class 6A, Region 3 tournament. In the playoffs, Starkville earned a bye before knocking off Murrah 69-55 at home to advance to Jackson.
“Our balance has been really good this season,” Starkville coach Greg Carter said. “Obviously, you would like that guy who can drop 40 points or even someone who could consistently get you 25 or 30. We haven’t had that, so that has made our season a little unusual. We have been balanced all year and some other teams haven’t been able to handle that.
“In the Murrah game, our guards were all shooting the ball well and our post players were defending and rebounding. That gave Murrah fits. That is when we are at our best.”
The season turned during a series of misadventures in January.
Starkville dropped a 67-44 decision in a region game at Columbus. Three days later, Starkville sent word around the state of what was possible with a 59-53 win over McComb at the Rumble in the South. The victory snapped a 34-game win streak for 28-1 McComb, who is a heavy favorite in Class 4A.
“After we beat McComb, it changed our season around,” Tyson Carter said. “They had a 34-game streak. We lost one more game after that (59-52 at Madison Central in region play) but then went on a win streak of our own.
“What we learned in the McComb game is how good we could be if we played for four quarters. We talk all the time about playing a full game and staying focused. Earlier in the year, we would be for some quarters and bad for others. That got us beat a couple of times. What we eventually figured out was how good we could be if we played hard and played consistently for four quarters.”
Consider the lesson learned by the Yellow Jackets. During the win streak, eight of 10 victories have been by 10 points or more. In the region tournament, Starkville built a double-digit lead in the first quarter of both wins.
“If we do what we have to do (to be successful) and that is defend and rebound, we feel like we can beat anybody,” Leonard said. “That is how we feel. We don’t rely hard on one person. Anybody on the floor we have confidence in that they can make a stop or get a score. We feel like everybody can contribute.”
At 6-foot-9, sophomore Jesse Little has developed into one of the better big men in the state. At point guard, Tyson Carter has grown in the size department (6-foot-3) and in the team leadership department. At 6-3, Leonard helps Little clean up underneath and can also slide out to the wing. The other starters include 5-10 junior Keith Harris and 6-1 senior Josh Skinner. Both have sharp ball-handing skills and the savvy of being veterans.
Greg Carter’s teams have been known for their scrappy nature and balance in scoring. They had not been known in recent years for their height.
“A lot of teams don’t make it to the state tournament,” Greg Carter said. “We feel honored and blessed. At the same time, we are not satisfied. We are going there to win it all.
“All year, we have done a good job of not getting too high or too low. That will be important here. Under the new format, you win a game and you can’t get high off that because you have two left. Back in January, these kids knew we had a goal we could reach. We had a long way to go. Now, we are close to see it and it involves winning three more games.”
After racking his brain over a Macbeth test in the classroom earlier this week, Leonard is ready to rack a rim or two instead.
“We have had fun all year,” Leonard said. “Now we need to have one more week of fun.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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