BY WILL NATIONS
Special to The Dispatch
JACKSON – Eryka Williams found a hot spot in the corner of the court. Any time she gained possession of the ball in that spot, she orchestrated a positive action for the Starkville High girls basketball team.
The 5-foot-7 senior scored a game-high 22 points and dished out six assists, and Kelsey Jones scored 10 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter, spurring the Starkville Lady Jackets to a 62-49 win over the Jackson Jim Hill Lady Tigers in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class-6A quarterfinals Saturday evening at Jackson State University.
“We expect this performance from our senior leaders,” Lady Jacket Head Coach Kristie Williams said. “We are on a quest to win a gold ball. They wanted to give their very best, and that’s what our girls’ did.”
Jim Hill cut Starkville’s advantage to 49-40 with five minutes, 54 seconds remaining in the game. Jones took over from there in the frontcourt and the paint. The senior scored 10 straight points for the Lady Jackets, who pulled away for good. Jones’ inside presence was a part of a 13-9 closing stretch. Eryka Williams said the final push was easy because of Jones’ dominance.
“(Jones) got frustrated early in the game,” Kristie Williams said. “Once she settled in during the fourth quarter, she was unstoppable. She is extremely talented around the rim.”
Eryka Williams scored nine of 12 shot attempts from the field, including a four-of-five shooting performance beyond the arc. Tanita Thompson chipped in 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Jones snagged seven boards.
“The shots started falling early, and I got more comfortable in the game,” Eryka Williams said. “At first, I was really nervous. I really don’t know why. Everything clicked when the first shot went down.”
Starkville (26-2) trailed once and was tied twice in the opening quarter but gained a five-point lead at the quarter’s end. Williams scored 12 in the first half and Thompson netted 11, helping the Lady Jackets to a 28-15 advantage at the intermission. Starkville led Jim Hill 45-33 after three periods.
Nakeisha Holcomb paced the Lady Tigers with 14 points. Ieisha Lacey added 11.
Starkville outrebounded Jim Hill (20-10), 39-31, and benefited from a 16-13 offensive rebounding advantage.
After Tanita Thompson opened the scoring, Jim Hill scored the game’s next five points in the first quarter. An offensive put back by Thompson tied the game. The made basket set up Eryka Williams to power the Lady Jacket offense. Williams drained a jump shot that was answered by Nakeisha Holcomb at the other end. Williams then scored a 3-pointer at the 1:51 mark and a jump shot with 30 seconds left in the quarter as the Lady Jackets led 12-7.
Williams added a lay-up and 3-pointer, starting a seven-point stretch that opened the second. Jim Hill challenged the Lady Jackets’ double-digit advantage, whittling it down to eight twice before halftime. Leading 21-13, Thompson scored five of the Lady Jackets’ final seven of the half. The Lady Jackets led by 12 points at the intermission.
A Jones’ lay-up and an Eryka Williams’ 3-pointer gave Starkville its largest lead of 17 points, 40 seconds into the third. Jim Hill closed its deficit to nine points, but Starkville placed an exclamation point on the quarter when Eryka Williams beat the buzzer on a floater. It was a 12-point advantage again.
Starkville plays the winner of Brandon and Murrah at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson. The Lady Jackets were eliminated in the semifinal round last season. Kristie Williams wants to make sure her team’s campaign for a state championship doesn’t fall short.
“The semifinal loss last season left a bitter taste in our mouths,” she said. “We have experience under our belt. This team is ready to show to our community and to ourselves that we can accomplish this feat. We are stronger and better. That’s what we have lived by this season.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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