JACKSON – Biloxi tried to keep Tyson Carter in a box. The Indians should have had a bigger box for Keith Harris.
Harris, a Starkville senior, scored 21 points and had nine rebounds as the Yellowjackets beat the Indians 55-44 Saturday night in the Mississippi High School Activities Associaton Class 6A state quarterfinals at Mississippi Coliseum. Starkville (22-3) will face Tupelo 8:30 p.m. Wednesdy in the semifinals.
“I knew they were going to box Tyson,” Harris said, “knew I’d get open shots and I just made plays.”
Biloxi (22-11) used a box-and-one on Carter, a Mississippi State signee. He still managed 17 points. The game was knotted at 39 on Biloxi senior Jaylon Chiles’ plus-one with 4 minutes, 25 seconds to play. Starkville scored five straight, started by a free throw from Harris and followed by a steal and layup from Carter and pair of freebies from Markedric Bell.
Harris had 11 points and five rebounds at the half as Starkville held a 26-20 lead.
“Keith had a great game. He did what he’s been doing all year,” Starkville coach Greg Carter said. “He’s playing off the dribble. He’s making 3s, handling the ball. He can do everything. He defended really well, rebounded. That’s what he normally does.”
In between the 5-0 run, Biloxi 6-foot-6 senior Marques McGee was called for his fifth foul and had to sit the rest of the game. He finished with a team-high 11 points on 5 of 6 shooting.
Starkville 6-foot-9 junior center Jesse Little didn’t light up the box score but in a small series of a tight game, Little was big. With the game tied at 31 late in the third quarter, he blocked Jordan Lewis’ shot. Carter gave the Jackets a 33-31 lead before Little contested enough of another shot to keep it out of the net, then had the third of his three blocks in the middle of a 6-0 run that gave his team a 37-31 lead after three quarters.
“It was just a dog fight out there,” Tyson Carter said. “We knew we had to keep scoring. They ran some different defenses, like triangle-and-two and box-and-one. Keith was real good offensively. He’s been doing that all year.”
Carter and Harris combined to hit 12 of 26 shots and 11 of 16 free throws.
Starkville out-rebounded Biloxi 38-27 and the teams combined to hit only four 3-pointers. Harris hit two of Starkville’s, Carter the other as both made only a combined 4 of 34. Biloxi missed all but one of its 18 long-range attempts.
Harris hit a pair of free throws for a late 47-40 lead and another to give the Jackets a 10-point cushion at 52-42.
“It was tough,” Harris said. “They would make a run, we’d turn the ball over, but we’d make a big play and then take off again. They’re a tough team.”
It was a grind to a 12-5 Starkville lead after the first quarter. Biloxi’s Austin Perine tied a nip-and-tuck first half at 16 in the second quarter before Starkville scored 10 of the next 14 points, capped by Carter’s pull-up to end the half with a 26-20 lead.
Jamal Williams had nine rebounds for the Jackets, who made 16 of their 24 free throws. Biloxi made seven in 11 trips.
“It would get to like a three-point game and we would make plays,” Tyson Carter said. “That’s what we talked about before the game, making plays.”
Starkville needs two more wins for back-to-back state titles. It would have to come in loaded 6A with Columbus and Southaven waiting on the other side of the bracket. Tupelo had to hold on for a 73-64 win over Meridian. It will be the first meeting of the season between Starkville and Tupelo.
Martell Turner and Fred Ramsey Thompson each had nine points for Biloxi but had to earn it on a combined 7 of 28 shooting.
“Every game is a one-game season to itself,” Greg Carter said. “If you don’t get past it, that’s it. So we just focus on that one game like it’s the last game of the year.”
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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