Greg Carter doesn”t have to mention the goal or the destination.
Ten games into the season, thoughts of Jackson don”t seem as far away as they might have at the start of the season.
If Saturday night is any indication, the Starkville High School boys basketball team just might get even closer to earning a return date in Jackson by the end of the regular season.
Gavin Ware led the way with 15 points and Steven Brand added 10 to help Starkville beat Brandon 57-37 in the final game of the 14th annual Joe Horne Columbus Christmas Classic.
Coupled with a 55-43 victory against Holt (Ala.) on Friday, Starkville went 2-0 in the annual event to improve to 9-1. The lone blemish on the ledger is a loss to Meridian to start the season, but Carter said the Yellow Jackets have made great strides since that game, and have even more room to grow.
“We”re getting better every day,” coach Carter said. “It is reminiscent of last year (when Starkville won the Class 6A state title and the Grand Slam championship).”
Carter doesn”t mean to compare the 2009-10 Yellow Jackets to the 2010-11 version. Without Rashad Perkins and Edward Townsel leading the way, the Yellow Jackets are a more of a “grind-it-out” bunch this season, according to Carter. That”s fine when you have a center like Ware, who, at 6-foot-8, shows a knack for facing the basket and playing with his back to the basket. His versatility gives Starkville a low-post presence not many teams in the state will be able to handle.
Throw in the contributions of Steven and Mike Brand, who had nine points Saturday, and the steady leadership of quarterback Jaquez Johnson, who continues to get his legs under him coming back from football season, and Starkville continues to find its identity.
Carter said this season”s team has a good memory, so sometimes it has to fight the temptation to fall back to the up-tempo, high-flying ways. But he also said the team is smart enough to know it doesn”t have the explosiveness of last year, so it needs to rely on the sum of its parts to do its damage.
Against Brandon, Starkville built a 14-1 lead in the first quarter and was never challenged the rest of the way. Carter said he was especially pleased with Ware, who played with an “extra little bit of motivation” against 6-9 counterpart Tyler Adams.
Ware acquitted himself nicely, controlling the paint and stepping out to the perimeter several times to showcase his shooting touch.
Ware capped the evening by slapping hands with Carter in the waning seconds after Nathan Ball hit a driving lineup to put the finishing touches on the victory. It was a fitting gesture because it came minutes before Perkins greeted Carter with a slap of the hand following the game.
There should be plenty more celebrations like the one the Yellow Jackets had Saturday if they continue to mature.
Starkville returns to action at 6 p.m. Tuesday when it takes on Corinth in Booneville.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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