The Heritage Academy boys basketball team needed a break.
After a blowout win over East Rankin Academy on Friday, a tough loss to Madison-Ridgeland Academy on Saturday and a hard-fought win over MHSAA Class 4A opponent North Pike on Monday in the Rumble in the South tournament in Ridgeland, the Patriots were understandably tired.
So when coach Russ Whiteside asked the team to run a press defense in Tuesday’s home game against Leake Academy, a tired starting five tried its best.
“He was like, ‘I don’t know if y’all can do that after all these games,'” senior guard Carter Putt said. “We realized after about a quarter that we needed a break.”
The Patriots still led 17-8 after the opening period, but they pushed even harder to open up the game. Pretty passing orchestrated a 10-0 run to start the second quarter, and Heritage Academy stretched the floor and pushed the pace. Late in the second, senior Jared Long drove the lane and dished to a wide-open Putt on the wing. Putt, realizing his 3-pointer was awry, called “Bank!” audibly as the ball dropped in off the glass, giving the Pats an 38-10 lead.
Leake Academy called timeout, and the Patriots’ starters came out. They never returned.
Heritage Academy’s bench held it down from there, giving the team’s beleaguered starters a rest as the Patriots (17-7, 8-0 district) cruised to a 68-23 win.
Putt had 10 points to lead the team, senior Adam Koussih had 10 off the bench, and Long, senior Steele Altmyer and freshman Trey Naugher each had eight, providing the Pats with yet another balanced scoring effort.
“I know there was a game a couple weeks ago where our scoring went 11, 10, nine, nine, nine,” Whiteside said. “We’ve seen that a lot because of the unselfishness of all our guys.”
Putt knows Long and senior Eli Acker are the team’s two top scorers, but he’s happy to contribute when needed.
“They’re our main two offensive guys, and they’re big down low, but we’ve all gotta guard, and we’ve all gotta play,” Putt said.
The Pats did that in excellent fashion in their 25-point second quarter, which gave them a 42-10 advantage at the break. Pretty much everyone played their role: senior point guard Reid Huskison finding the open man, Long leaping for rebounds and scoring with ease inside, Acker bullying Rebels out of the paint, Putt hitting outside shots and Altmyer converting a nifty and-one.
And Heritage Academy’s bench picked up right where its starters left off. Naugher converted two three-point plays, Koussih’s nine points came on a trio of 3-pointers in the third quarter, and Mack Howard, Gunnar Gale and Whit Altmyer each connected on a 3-ball in the second half.
The solid play of the Pats’ reserves was encouraging for Putt and Heritage Academy’s starters, watching approvingly from the sideline.
“We don’t have to play the whole entire game,” Putt said. “We can go and play ’til we’re tired, get a break and then have good players come off the bench. That’s really big for us. That’s one of the most important things about us.”
After getting some extra rest, the Patriots have a well-deserved day off before traveling to face rival Starkville Academy on Thursday.
“Starkville’s always a hard place to go play,” Whiteside said. “Tomorrow will be a day where we spend a lot of time on Starkville and on getting our legs back under us.”
Leake Academy girls 67, Heritage Academy 30
Four minutes into Tuesday’s girls game, with Leake Academy leading Heritage Academy 14-0, the Patriots hoisted up a 3-pointer that wedged between the left side of the rim and the backboard, bringing the game to a sudden stop.
One of the game officials, given another basketball from the bench, tried to shoot it out. His first attempt hit the bottom of the backboard and came straight down amid laughter from the stands. His second try freed the ball, pushing it around the right side of the rim and back onto the court.
For Heritage Academy, it was a moment that proved to be symbolic of the night to come.
The Patriots (10-14, 3-5 district) had their share of missed shots and frustration against a stellar Leake team (24-1, 7-0), dropping Tuesday night’s home game 67-30.
“They made us look pretty bad tonight at times,” Heritage Academy coach Moe Reed said.
Reed chalked that up to Leake’s prodigious talent and basketball knowledge as well as her own team’s shortcomings offensively.
“We’ve gotta shoot better,” Reed said. “I told them, ‘We’ve got open shots. We’ve gotta knock some of those down. Especially against a good team. You’ve gotta make free throws, and you’ve gotta make shots outside.”
Heritage Academy made four 3-pointers on Tuesday to Leake’s six, with senior Bailey Harris knocking down three long balls for the Patriots. Harris and freshman Lucy Sharp tied for the team lead the team with 11 points, and senior Sydney Adair had an uncharacteristic night with just three points.
“I feel like Leake is always known to be that good, so you have to work as a team in order to play with them,” Harris said. “We started out kind of slow, then we kind of got in a rhythm, but against a team like that, you’ve gotta come out strong and stay with it. I think that’s where we fell apart a little bit.”
Reed and Harris both found the Patriots’ enthusiasm lacking Friday, perhaps a natural consequence of falling behind so early. Heritage Academy didn’t score until Sharp split a pair of free throws a few seconds after the Pats’ 3-point attempt lodged in the corner of the basket, making the score 14-1; the Patriots never got any closer.
“Today, it didn’t feel like we had as much energy,” Harris said. “We need more energy on and off the court and in practice.”
Harris knows the Patriots will need that intensity back when they head to Starkville on Thursday for a tough road game against rival Starkville Academy, which beat Heritage Academy 60-34 on Jan. 7 in the Pats’ home gym.
“We always want to bring energy with them anyway because of the rivalry, and I feel like we’ll take what we learned tonight to bring into Thursday night,” Harris said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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