STARKVILLE — The Starkville High School boys basketball team sent a message to the rest of the teams in Class 5A that the slow-down offense won’t work against it.
Starkville built a 12-0 lead in the first quarter and rolled to a 77-33 victory against Lake Cormorant on Tuesday in the first round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A North State tournament.
Even after Starkville built the early lead, Lake Cormorant coach Nick Christy had his point guard dribble around the mid-court line for nearly a minute before his team started its offense. Starkville waited in a 2-3 zone and then attempted to push the tempo on the other end.
“We had to start half-court trapping them early and that helped a bunch,” Starkville coach Greg Carter said. “It’s hard (to keep focus) when you face this, but our experience against this type of stuff helped a lot.”
Carter, who said his team has seen the slow-down approach by several teams this season, seemed surprised that Lake Cormorant ran the clock
as much as it did on offense before trying to go toward the basket.
Starkville junior Steve Brand hit four 3-pointers and had a game-high 17 points after hearing trash talk last Friday in his team’s victory against Canton at Neshoba Central High.
“He felt a little disrespected after the Canton game,” Carter said.
Brand couldn’t find his jump shot in the 62-30 victory, which is why Carter said the shooting guard could barely wait the two days in between the games.
“I could hear the Canton coach saying, ‘Back up, back up. He can’t shoot,’ so I needed to play well tonight,” Brand said. “I couldn’t wait to get on the floor. I finally got the feeling back.”
The senior inside-out duo of forward Gavin Ware (12 points) and Jacoby Mobley (16) outscored Lake Cormorant in the first half as the Yellow Jackets led 39-5 at halftime. Each player had one basket in the second half.
Lake Cormorant didn’t change strategy until the middle of the fourth quarter. David McKnight led the Gators with 14 points.
“The plan was to shorten the game with the stall and pick our punches,” Christy said. “We just didn’t land any of the punches by making a shot.”
The victory sets up a rematch against Provine, which won Tuesday at West Point, on Friday. Provine beat Starkville 80-76 in Jackson on Dec. 16.
“I like the matchup, and they beat us the first time because we didn’t play very well defensively,” Carter said. “We can’t count on easy baskets and we have to focused defensively.”
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