STARKVILLE — Junior guard Natrone Brooks’ eyes lit up when he saw the ball come his way.
“When I got the steal, I knew we had won the game,” Brooks said. “It was a great feeling and a great win.”
Brooks stole the ball in the final seconds and fed Jesse Little for the put-away score to help the Starkville High School boys basketball team beat Columbus 56-51 Tuesday night at the Bee Hive.
In the opener, the Starkville High girls moved to 4-0 with a come-from-behind 61-54 victory.
The Starkville boys scored the first seven points and kept a capacity crowd energized throughout in the first installment of this rivalry since a loss to Columbus in the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 6A State championship game last season.
“Columbus is a huge rivalry game,” said Little, a senior center. “We knew if we didn’t start fast they would bury us, so we really had to come out ready to go. Our energy level was really high. We were excited about playing. The fast start was critical.”
In its last home outing, Starkville fell behind 10-2 to No. 1 Meridian and never righted the ship, suffering a 63-46 loss. The Yellow Jackets started the opposite way against the Falcons.
Starkville (3-1) followed up the loss to Meridian with a victory against Vicksburg. Little said the team had its best practice of the season Thursday — two days after the Meridian defeat. The challenge was again huge Tuesday night, with Columbus being ranked fourth.
“We are taking baby steps. I think that much is obvious,” Starkville coach Greg Carter said. “I really loved our effort. I thought we played hard for four quarters. It’s pretty obvious we didn’t do that last week, but Meridian had a lot to do with it. Again, we played a great basketball team, and I am really proud of the kids for finding a way to win. We grew up a lot since last Tuesday.”
Senior Darrious Agnew admits the team took a step backward against Meridian. However, he likes how the team responded.
“We really wanted to come out and show out for this game,” Agnew said. “We were down but we weren’t out. We just kept battling. The attitude is great on this team. We are a young team just trying to get better.”
Columbus (3-1) was also down but not out. Behind another monster performance from Dandy Dozen junior Robert Woodard II, strong point guard play from Kaderius Williams, and the rebounding of Denijay Harris, the Falcons clawed back into the game.
A 3-pointer by Starkville’s Jamarrion Brown gave the Yellow Jackets a 36-27 halftime lead.
Columbus turned up its defensive pressure in the second half. The Falcons used more full-court pressure and turned to Woodard (19 points, 13 rebounds, six blocked shots) more on both ends of the floor.
Columbus battled back from a 39-29 deficit with eight-straight points. Still, the Falcons failed to take the lead until a putback by Woodard gave the Falcons a 43-41 lead with 5:36 remaining.
“It doesn’t matter how good we are or how good they are, it is very hard to win a basketball game at Starkville,” Columbus first-year coach Gary Griffin said. “We came in here last year with a state-championship team and got beaten soundly (80-61). I am proud of how we competed. We fought uphill but found a way to come back and take a lead. We just couldn’t make enough plays to close out the win.”
Starkville scored the next six points and didn’t trail again. Blake Rogers converted an old-fashioned 3-point play before Little hit 3 of 4 free throws after a technical on the Columbus bench.
Baskets by Woodard brought the Falcons within 51-49 and later 52-51. However, Columbus missed four of its final five shots from the field. The steal by Brooks provided the game-clincher.
“Thursday (practice) was rough,” Brooks said. “We are still learning and trying to grow up. One day is better than others. The coaches talked about starting fast and getting off to a good start. That was huge.”
Carter said he would lament letting a 12-point lead at home slip away if he had a veteran team. However, with a young team, the pleasure comes from watching that lead slip away and his players battling back to re-claim the lead with some heady play down the stretch.
“The last five minutes we played some really smart basketball,” Carter said. “I am proud of how we kept our composure. We didn’t get down and let things get away from us.”
Little had 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Blake Rogers had 12 points and Agnew had 11 points.
n Starkville girls 61, Columbus 54: In the opener, the third-ranked Lady Jackets erased a seven-point halftime deficit with a 13-2 run to start the third quarter.
“I thought in the first half, we didn’t play with a lot of energy,” Starkville coach Kristie Williams said. “I give credit to Columbus because they hustled and fought the entire game. That’s something we didn’t do. It was hard fought, and I was happy that we came out on top.”
Columbus had the upper hand throughout a fast-paced first half. The Lady Falcons used defensive pressure to create turnovers, as Zaria Jenkins and Kaylyn Wilson thrived in fast-break transition positions.
The Lady Falcons (2-2) scored the first seven points and led 14-10 after one quarter when Briona Green rammed home a 3-pointer as the first quarter expired.
Fouls were mounting for Starkville as Columbus used a 7-0 run to build a 28-19 lead.
Down 30-23 at halftime, Starkville shifted to more full-court pressure in the second half. While the Lady Falcons did a good job beating the pressure, the problems happened on offense when the team sped up and made a series of careless turnovers.
Starkville Dandy Dozen senior Kelsey Jones had to head to the bench with foul trouble and her team down two points in the early stages of the third quarter. Starkville still mounted the game-changing 20-4 run in that period.
Columbus climbed within 45-41 on back-to-back baskets by Kennedi Stephens. Aniya Saddler also added some key rebounds off the bench.
Jones fouled out and Starkville had three other players finish with four fouls. However, the Lady Jackets held on, stretching the lead to 12 points in the closing minutes.
Jariyah Covington led Starkville with 23 points and four assists. Jones added 14 points, while Tabreea Gandy had 13.
Jenkins had 17 points before fouling out with three minutes remaining.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
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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