STARKVILLE — After winning a state title and having two of the state”s best players, how does a team come close to matching that goal without those leaders?
If you”re Starkville High, replacing talent is rarely an issue. But when it”s young, inexperienced talent, a coach has to focus more on mental preparation than skill-building.
Starkville High boys basketball coach Greg Carter knows how to do both, as his teams have consistently dominated district play and advanced to the playoffs.
Still, without 2010 Mr. Basketball Rashad Perkins and point guard Edward Townsel, Carter couldn”t have imagined the 2010-11 Starkville team would earn a return trip to Jackson, the site of the Mississippi High School Activities Association State tournament.
“I was surprised we got back because we had inexperience and immaturity,” Carter said. “We had a couple of guys that played on the title team, but some of them didn”t play a whole lot. Some were coming up from B team. That inexperience and immaturity is going to show, but you just got to keep working and hope they grow out of it.”
The Yellow Jackets went 19-9 and qualified for the MHSAA Class 6A State tournament, where they lost to Meridian, which avenged a loss in the 2010 title game.
For his accomplishment, Carter, the only area Large Schools coach to lead his team to the final four, is The Dispatch Coach of the Year.
“I tell the guys every year, all of you want to be great players and to be recognized, but to be recognized you”ve got to win,” Carter said. “Win and win big. Go to state and win and individuals will be recognized. I guess it goes hand in hand with the coaching. Other coaches do a good job — (Noxubee”s) T.J. Billups and (Columbus coach) Sammy Smith– they do excellent jobs. They might not have the talent, but they do excellent jobs.”
Starkville”s run couldn”t have been foreshadowed early in the year, or at any point on the schedule.
A four-game losing streak to Corinth, Grenada, Tupelo, and Vicksburg left doubt about the team”s chances of making another state title run, much less qualify for the 6A tournament.
In that span, Starkville lost a heartbreaking 73-72 game at Tupelo, which became a viral video on Yahoo after a last-second shot sealed the victory for the Golden Wave. The loss was one of three Starkville would drop to its rivals.
Still, the Yellow Jackets weren”t far off. They lost all four games by four points or less, including three by two points.
Sandwiched in that stretch of losses was a seemingly routine win for Starkville over rival Columbus. Earlier in the season, Starkville rolled Columbus by 32 points at home to continue its dominant form against its division opponent.
But the rematch was far more competitive and went to overtime before the Yellow Jackets pulled out the win.
Starkville”s top player, forward and Mississippi State commitment Gavin Ware, remembers the odds his team faced that game.
“When I fouled out, Columbus started to come back slowly got the lead on us,” he said. “When coach got us in the huddle, we all understood we had the chance to leave there with an embarrassing loss to a team we should beat. We just couldn”t afford to lose a game like that at that time of the year.”
That win against a young Columbus team had more of an impact than any of the other 18 the Yellow Jackets earned this season, Carter said.
“As a team, we were still working out the kinks in January and February,” Carter said. “I think we grew up after that game. A lot of negative things happened that game before the good things happened at the end. How we won that game was indicative of this year”s team.
“We got a tougher skin after that game. I can”t say we hit our stride and took off because we still lost games after that, but we weren”t fazed by the little things after that.”
Starkville”s talented young players came together at the right time, too.
Junior guard Jacolby Mobley was an established scorer after averaging 14 points through the first half of his sophomore season. He missed the second half of the state title run due to ineligibility. He played with a chip on his shoulder because he felt he let his teammates down a year ago.
Ware increased his scoring by 10 points a game to 19 and was the ultimate equalizer in the post. He averaged 10 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Steve Brand”s play on the wing helped Starkville land three on The Dispatch All-Area team. Ware and Mobley made the first team.
Guard Mike Brand and forwards Tory Rice and Calvin Young gave the Yellow Jackets a deeper lineup than expected.
Starkville”s tough schedule, formulated that way by Carter, aided in the progression.
“We had some games lost because of snow days, and that hurt us,” Carter said. “I think those games would have helped us even more. I”ve tried to make this coming schedule even tougher. Not a lot of people want to come to Starkville, so we end up on the road a lot. I tell the guys all the time, we”ve created something special. It”s what they”ve done on the court. All around the state, Starkville basketball is respected because of what they did on the court.”
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