FLOWOOD — Survive and advance.
Behind a big third quarter along with the shooting of Reid Huskison, Heritage Academy was able to hold off Hartfield Academy 38-32 in the opening round of the MAIS Class 4A tournament Wednesday night.
The Patriots (25-9) advance to face Simpson Academy in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
“It was a grind. They came out defensively and did some things against us that we haven’t seen a lot of and gave us a ton of trouble in the first half,” Heritage Academy coach Russ Whiteside said. “We just had to find a way to get comfortable being uncomfortable, and in the second half we showed a lot of resiliency and played hard.”
Hartfield Academy held a 22-13 lead at halftime, but the Patriots outscored the Hawks 10-0 in the third quarter to take a 23-22 lead in the fourth quarter.
Steele Altmyer’s three-point play gave the Patriots the lead with just over two minutes to go in the third.
“We got them to take some poor shots, and we finally got them to speed up a little bit,” Whiteside said. “Reid stepped up when we really need him too. He made three really big 3s, and he was coming off a game he went 0 for 7 on Saturday, so for him to still have confidence to shoot the ball well was good for us.”
Hartfield took a 28-27 lead midway through the fourth, but Jared Long would hit two free throws and Huskison hit his third 3-pointer to put the Patriots up 32-28.
Huskison had nine points to lead Heritage Academy.
“I had to come back a little stronger from the last game,” Huskison said. “I was able to get in rhythm and was able to get open, and my teammates passed me the ball, so give them credit.”
Ole Miss football signee Eli Acker added eight points and made two free throws with seven seconds left to seal the game.
“We were up two, and I just knew I had to make them,” Acker said. “You got to win one to win another, and this was a go home game, so this one is big. You got two chances now to make it to overall either win or lose, but we don’t plan on losing.”
Jonathan Lucas had nine points to lead Hartfield Academy (21-9).
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.