MABEN — The Columbus High School boys basketball team led for less than two minutes of its game Tuesday night against West Oktibbeha.
The Falcons made sure to lead when it counted the most.
A steal and fast-break layup by C.J. Scott helped Columbus rally past West Oktibbeha 53-51 in double overtime at Morgan Gym. In the first game, the Columbus High girls rolled to a 77-34 victory.
In the nightcap, the Falcons (2-4) built a 5-1 lead and didn’t lead again until Scott stole the ball at midcourt and glided to the basket for an uncontested layup to make it 52-51 with 27 seconds left in the second overtime.
After a West Oktibbeha turnover, Scott hit 1 of 2 free throws to close the win. The Timberwolves missed an off-balanced, challenged 3-pointer at the final horn.
“We kept fighting hard all night even though it was an uphill battle,” said Scott, a sophomore guard. “Effort and defense were the keys to victory. Eventually, we got the shots to fall when we needed them most.”
West Oktibbeha (5-2) blew past the early deficit by scoring 10 straight points. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Von Smith sparked that run. Smith hit three first-half treys to push the Timberwolves to a 13-9 lead after the first quarter and a 19-9 edge less than a minute into the second quarter.
“Tonight, we got a little better,” Columbus coach Sammy Smith said. “We are a little older. My 10th-graders are now 10th-graders and two months old. We are getting there. We are a little more disciplined. I tell them all the time if you listen to me, I will put you in a position to be successful. We just have to keep coaching them through the rough spots. I am proud at how we finished after the slow start.”
The Timberwolves maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the half and led 30-18 at halftime.
“It was like déjà vu all over again,” West Oktibbeha coach Danny Crawford said. “Last Friday night in our first loss, we had a 20-point halftime lead against Noxubee County and could not finish. Tonight, we have a 14-point lead and in the third and fourth quarters, we fell totally apart.
“That would be OK if you have ninth- and 10th-graders. This is a veteran team. These players are back from a second-round playoff team a season ago. There is no reason for us to play as poorly as we did in the second half. For whatever reason, our intensity dropped. Playing at home, I don’t understand that.”
The Timberwolves still led 35-24 when Kendrin Yates hit the final of his team’s five 3-pointers. Columbus turned up the defensive pressure and ended the quarter on a 7-2 run.
“The coaches told us to keep shooting and that eventually our shots would fall,” Scott said. “We knew if we continued to play defense and stayed patient on offense, we had a chance.”
West Oktibbeha slowed the tempo in the final quarter and managed only four points and missed seven of its final eight shots, helping give way to overtime.
An old-fashioned 3-point play by Scott brought the Falcons within one at 37-36 with 3 minutes, 39 seconds left in regulation. After Evrick Jones answered with a basket, Columbus had another 3-point play when Devin Berry scored a putback and hit the follow-up foul shot.
West Oktibbeha again grabbed the lead on a jumper in the lane by Yates. Berry had the game-tying shot with 1:16 left in regulation.
“In the second half, we did a better job of finishing shots,” Smith said. “I don’t know what you expect with two freshmen and four sophomores. If the kids will be patient, we have the foundation. We will be fine. We will make the naysayers proud. Our supporters are already with us. Our job now is to prove the naysayers wrong.”
Behind six straight points by Yates, the Timberwolves bolted to a 47-42 advantage in the first overtime. Again the Falcons stayed patient. Robert Irby hit 1 of 2 free throws. Irby followed with a putback basket. Brandon Porter than added a steal and a fast-break game-tying layup with 18 seconds left in the first overtime.
“Last year, we did not do a good job of finishing games,” Scott said, “This year, we have to be a whole lot better at that. This is a good start.”
West Oktibbeha also scored the first four points of the second overtime but again failed to make the lead stand up.
“We have four inside players who are averaging double-doubles,” Crawford said. “We had 6-4, 6-4, 6-5 and 6-7 starting. That is the obvious reason why we want to go inside for our shots. We did a good job of that early and then got away from it. In the second half, we kept going inside but our intensity dropped. We just failed to find a way to finish the game.”
Berry paced Columbus with 14 points, while Deontae Jones added 13 and Scott had 10 points. Yates led West Oktibbeha with 19, including eight in the two overtimes. Smith was next with nine, all in the first nine minutes.
In the opener, the Columbus girls built a 54-18 halftime lead and cruised to the win. Columbus opened with an 18-2 run on the way to a 26-point first quarter.
“When we have away games, we don’t want the crowd to get into it,” Columbus junior Kameron Corrothers said, “so we try to jump on them early and get a good lead and get it all going.”
The Lady Falcons (4-1) received 22 points from Kiandria Patterson. Corrothers followed with nine points and five assists. Twelve players scored for Columbus.
“I thought we played well tonight,” Columbus coach Yvonne Hairston said. “We had a chance to get some of our younger players into the game. Anytime you get a chance to play your bench, that’s a plus. We are going to need them to step up and play big for us somewhere down the road.”
After a rare loss to H.W. Byers, the Columbus girls now enter Class 6A, Region 2 play on a three-game win streak.
“Each game, we have gotten better,” Hairston said. “We watch film and can rectify things we mess up on. They know when they come out what we plan to do. If we get the other team to play our style then we have a good chance to get the victory.
The region opener is Grenada at home Friday night.
“It is our first home game, so we are excited about that,” Corrothers said. “We are excited about showing our home crowd what we are working with. We should get the victory, if we play hard enough.”
West Oktibbeha (4-3) received 18 points from Jaslyne Bedford and 11 points from Breneshia Brownlee. Despite the setback, coach Marcus Johnson liked several things he saw from the Lady Timberwolves.
“We got off to a bad start,” Johnson said. “We were playing a team with a Dandy Dozen player (Patterson) and the girls were a little intimidated early. We didn’t defend well. They jumped out on us early and didn’t look back.
“Playing this level of competition will help our team. I am satisfied with our effort. This is a bad loss, but we will bounce back and learn from it. There are several good things going on with this team.”
West Oktibbeha will play host to former region rival Okolona on Friday night.
n Heritage Academy (G) 38, Pickens Academy 33: At Carrollton, Ala., Sallie Gardner had 13 points and Rachel Hollivay added eight to lead the Lady Patriots.
Elisabeth Hankins had 13 points and nine rebounds, and Corey Dawkins had eight points and nine rebounds for Pickens Academy.
n Vardaman (G) 48, Immanuel Christian 37: At Steens, Kaitlyn Shreiner had 18 points, 12 rebounds, and seven steals, but the Immanuel Christian girls slipped to 5-1.
Taylor Kidder had six points, 11 rebounds, and four steals, and Bailey Edwards had six points, eight rebounds, and seven steals.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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