STARKVILLE — Starkville High School boys basketball coach Greg Carter has built a perennial state championship contender in large part due to rebounding and defensive tenacity.
With a young squad, Carter and his staff will spend more time than usual teaching those virtues.
Meridian dominated in the categories of loose balls and rebounds en route to a 63-46 victory Thursday at the Bee Hive.
“We may not have gotten a loose ball all night,” Carter said. “That is disturbing because a lot of those are effort plays. We will get a lot of this fixed. However, each time we had a run it ended because we could not get that one extra rebound.”
Meridian lost in the quarterfinals of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A State tournament last season. Starkville lost to Columbus in the state championship game after winning the title in 2015.
While Starkville is breaking in four new starters, Meridian is breaking in new coach Ron Norman.
“The season is going really well,” Meridian junior forward Tyron Brewer said. “We are getting used to a new coach, but we have a lot of players back from last season’s team. The guys were really stoked about playing at Starkville. We know they are always competing for state championships. Getting a win like this will help us for the rest of the season.”
Meridian improved to 3-0 behind a balanced attack. Junior guard Miles Miller had 16 points, while Brewer had 14. Seniors Javius Malone and Ledarrius Brewer had 10.
“Our transition game was really good,” Miller said. “It starts on the defensive end. That is what coach talked to us about halftime. We had to turn up our intensity on defense. Once we did that, we got some fast-break baskets, and that made things a lot easier.”
Senior center Jesse Little had his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds for Starkville (1-1). Senior Darrious Agnew added 11 points, while junior Jordan Temple had 11 and played well at point guard.
“We are going to get there,” Little said. “We just had a lot of new pieces, so it is taking some time to get everything together. You have to play hard on every possession, and we didn’t do that. Jordan really had a great game, and he showed some of the things he is capable of doing. We just have to keep working hard every day in practice at getting better.”
Meridian used an 8-0 run to build a 10-2 lead. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Temple sparked a run that helped Starkville close the deficit to 26-24 in the opening minute of the third quarter.
“Our defensive intensity really picked up,” Norman said. “We changed some things up and went more man-to-man. That led to a good run. Offensively, we played well and had some great balance. When we have balance, we have a chance to win some games.”
Carter said making in-game adjustments has been the biggest challenge for his team.
“Playing a game is a lot different than practice,” Carter said. “When a team is throwing something at us that we are not prepared for, we don’t respond well. … If we get in any type of rhythm, the other team changes things on us and we don’t adapt. The team has to learn to take that attention to detail to the actual games.”
Meridian used a 14-4 run to build a 40-28 advantage with two minutes left in the third quarter. David McCoy hit a 3-pointer and Brewer converted an old-fashioned 3-point play on back-to-back possessions to start the run.
“This team is really excited about playing,” Miller said. “We feel we can be hard to beat when we turn it on. We have played together for a while, so the chemistry is good. Going on the road and beating Starkville is big. It brings home to us that we can go on the road and beat good teams.”
n In the opener, the Starkville girls improved to 2-0 with a 70-48 victory.
“This was a total team effort and everyone contributed whether it was rebounding or taking big shots,” Starkville coach Kristie Williams said. “That’s what it’s going to take to compete down the stretch.”
Jariyah Covington led Starkville (2-0) with 26 points, while Amaria Strong had 13 and Jalisa Outlaw had 11.
Both teams play Saturday in the Kosciusko Shootout. The Starkville girls will face Jim Hill at 2:30 p.m., while the Starkville boys will face Vicksburg at 4 p.m. Starkville will play host to Columbus on Tuesday night.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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