One possession during the second half of Tuesday night’s rivalry matchup between Columbus and Starkville showed everything.
The Yellow Jackets uncorked a deep pass from the backcourt to advance the ball, and an overzealous — and late — Columbus defender skidded by in vain.
Starkville worked the ball inside to big man Jacob Reese, who drew multiple Falcons toward him at the foul line.
Reese, practically surrounded by white jerseys, kicked the ball out to the left corner for an open 3-pointer. Swish.
It was that unselfishness — not just the ability but the willingness to make the extra pass — that Starkville had and Columbus longed for. The Yellow Jackets moved the ball expertly, finding big shots when they needed to, and limited the Falcons’ potent transition offense, confining them to the halfcourt. All told, Starkville imposed its will for a 62-45 road win in front of a boisterous Columbus crowd.
Starkville coach Greg Carter summed up the Jackets’ offensive output simply: “We made the extra pass and got open shots.”
On defense, the plan was a little more complicated, Starkville senior Trey Jackson said.
“The whole plan was to stop transition baskets and let them really try to score in a halfcourt setting,” he said.
The strategy worked to perfection against a Columbus team that does its best work in transition. Head coach Phillip Morris could only watch as players dribbled around the perimeter alone rather than work in concert.
“At the end of the day, you’ve just gotta share that ball,” Morris said. “That’s the way you get an open shot.”
The easy buckets that the Falcons found in wins against Philadelphia and Greenwood were no longer there against the state’s top-ranked team — just as the Jackets planned it.
“I thought for the most part we defended pretty well,” Carter said. “I thought our defensive effort was pretty good.”
So was the Jackets’ offensive display, led by 16 points apiece from Forte Prater and Coltie Young. Starkville hit six 3s Tuesday, a return to normal after Saturday’s 55-51 loss at Meridian where the Jackets could hardly buy a bucket.
“We normally shoot it like that,” Carter said. “We didn’t shoot it like that the last game; we got beat. It’s good to see those shots go in and get us back on track.”
Jackson knows Starkville’s shooting can sometimes be streaky, so a solid game Tuesday was a welcome sight.
“It can be up and down,” he said. “When it’s on, it’s really on, and it always helps.”
Thanks to strong foul shooting in the fourth quarter, Starkville kept the pressure on the Falcons and held onto the lead it had all game. It let the Jackets breathe easy in a rivalry contest Jackson said is “a game we always look forward to.”
“I think it’s really important for us to be able to bounce back,” he said. “We learned a lot from the Meridian game. It was a real eye-opener.”
Columbus’ eyes, certainly, are wide open after the Falcons’ first defeat. Morris said he could tell the hype his players were caught up in isn’t there anymore. And that’s a good thing, he said.
“It’s a tough loss, but I kind of like it because it humbled us a little bit,” Morris said. “We’re gonna go back to the drawing board.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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