PELAHATCHIE — The Starkville Academy girls basketball team defeated Jackson Academy 34-30 in overtime Friday in the semifinals of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA state tournament at East Rankin Academy.
With the victory, the Lady Volunteers (34-5) will advance to the Class AAA state title game at 2:15 p.m. Saturday. Starkville Academy will play the winner of the Jackson Prep-Madison-Ridgeland Academy game. The victory also clinched a spot in the overall state tournament, which starts Monday at Mississippi College in Clinton. Starkville Academy will play Tuesday or Wednesday as the No. 1 or the No. 2 seed in Class AAA.
Starkville Academy rallied from a 12-point deficit with 4 minutes, 2 seconds remaining in regulation to force OT.
For more about the game, see Saturday’s edition of The Dispatch.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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