Tupelo High School boys basketball coach Jeff Norwood had that sinking feeling Monday night.
The second half of his team’s game against Starkville had just started. At halftime, Starkville led 18-14. As the score would indicate, efficient offense hadn’t been plentiful.
In the second half, Tupelo was held without a field goal for the first six minutes, which allowed a nip-and-tuck battle quickly got out of hand. Coach Greg Carter’s Starkville squad was again forcing its will on the opposition. Norwood knew what was coming and there weren’t enough timeouts to stop it.
Carter’s teams win a lot. Five of the past seven seasons have ended in Jackson, where the Yellow Jackets have been one of the final teams standing in the battle for a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) State championship. Starkville won Class 5A in 2010, Class 6A in 2015, and was runner-up last season.
The blue print for success is simple: defend and rebound. To be more specific, the Yellow Jackets defend like their lives depends on it and they rebound like they are the only one wearing their colors on the floor.
Senior Darrious Agnew scored 40 points earlier this season in a game. He is 6-foot-7, so the rebounding part comes easily. After the 47-39 victory against Tupelo at the Travis Outlaw Slam Dunk at the Hump tournament at Mississippi State’s Humphrey Coliseum, he acted like a first-grader at show and tell when asked about his team’s defense.
“Suffocating man-to-man defense, that’s what we do,” Agnew said. “It is hand in your face. It is hard, aggressive, and it is all night long. All five players are going to do it. It is not an option. Coach would be OK winning every game 2-0.”
Tupelo is 13-3. Two of those three losses have come to Starkville. The Golden Wave was undefeated before the Yellow Jackets snuck out of town with a 51-50 win less than two weeks ago.
Quite simply, Tupelo wants no part of Starkville. The body language and demeanor suggests they were confused and frustrated. Very few shots were open. Very few shots were good, and even fewer went in.
“There is always that moment when the other team is rattled and confused,” Agnew said. “We know we are in their head. If we can get in their head, we have a really good chance of winning the game. You could tell (Tupelo) got down because they tried so many different things and none of them worked.”
Meanwhile, Starkville moved to 12-2 after a victory over Raleigh Egypt (Tennessee) in Tuesday’s tournament finale. Meridian soundly defeated Starkville in the second game of the season. Starkville also suffered a horrific night at the free-throw line in a four-point loss to Murrah.
After the Meridian loss, Carter said his team didn’t understand how hard it had to play. He said the guys were struggling to defend and rebound. However, he said they would figure it out.
With only two returning starters from last season, it figured to be a year of learning. The Yellow Jackets have played for the past two state titles without a lot of size. However, that isn’t the case this year, with Jesse Little as a 6-9 enforcer underneath and Agnew and 6-6 Markedric Bell at forward.
Under Carter, even the big men hustle, rebound, and defend. He said the defensive effort was lacking against Murrah (the team gave up 64 points). The Christmas holidays have allowed the team to practice longer and to focus on playing better man-to-man defense.
“Playing between the ball and the defender is what we have been working on,” Carter said. “Getting that hand in the right guarding technique. In the second half against Tupelo, we went exclusively man to man. We were really good In it.”
In addition to the two wins against Tupelo, Starkville also has beaten Columbus twice (holding the Falcons to 31 points in one win), beaten New Hope in a tournament at West Point, and also grabbed a win at Callaway. If the high schools used a Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), Starkville High’s numbers would be through the roof.
That’s not bad production for a team that wasn’t on anyone’s radar when the season began.
“That’s a huge motivation,” Agnew said. “We weren’t in anyone’s top 20 to start the season. We took that as some serious disrespect. Starkville wins basketball games. That is what this program does. We looked at it and said, ‘OK, we got a challenge now.’ Our coaches are the best. They give us a plan. The plan works. We are always in Jackson. With each win, we gain a little more confidence.”
Agnew also was asked for his take on the team’s practices during the Christmas holidays.
“It was the hardest week of practice in my life,” Agnew said. “I like the fact that our coaches approach practice each day like we haven’t accomplished anything. We really worked on some defense. It’s hard for our guys to score in practice.”
Junior point guard Blake Rogers said the team isn’t concerned about offense. A year ago, current Mississippi State starter Tyson Carter gave the team an offensive lift when it was needed most. This season, the team lacks that certified star power. The Yellow Jackets make up for it on defense.
“If we guard hard the entire game, we know we will get a run,” Rogers said. “When we do our job, it only takes one really good run.”
On Monday, that run was a 9-0 spurt, but it was enough.
Rogers is a junior, as is fellow guard Jordan Temple. Sophomore Jamarrion Brown also started Monday night. After taking some time to mesh, the buy-in is there and this team looks ready to make some noise.
In other words, Carter has this squad where he wants it. In the past two seasons, Starkville has combined to lose five games in January, February, and March.
On the other hand, Tupelo wasn’t where it wanted to be Monday night. When the postseason comes, it’s a good bet the Golden Wave will get another shot.
Scott Walters is a sports writer for The Dispatch. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @dispatchscott.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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