Eleven days isn’t a lot of time to make progress.
But Columbus High School boys basketball coach Sammy Smith liked what he saw from his team Tuesday night in a 49-41 loss to Tupelo in a Class 6A, Region 1 game at Columbus High School.
In the girls game, Kiandria Patterson had 25 points and Maggie Proffitt had 19 to lead the Columbus girls to a 69-41 victory.
Considering the Columbus boys had their lowest-scoring output of the season Jan. 6 in a 60-34 loss at Tupelo, Smith was more than pleased that his team had its chances to protect its home court against the region leader.
Unfortunately, the Falcons (9-10, 3-2 region) went 13 of 26 from the free-throw line, while the Golden Wave (15-6, 4-0) went 16 of 19, including 8 of 9 in the fourth quarter.
“We made some mistakes that you can’t do,” Smith said. “We left a lot of points out there. The effort was there and we had some mental breakdowns. We made some mental breakdowns at crucial times that we made last year that we probably shouldn’t have made this year, but that is part of growing.”
After winning only two games last season, Smith likes how his young team, which has only one senior — Deontae Jones, has come together through “addition by subtraction.” The Falcons didn’t lose an intensity or energy when Smith went to the bench, and he substituted frequently to make sure his players maintained their focus against Tupelo’s pressure defense.
Junior Remadus Beasley led Columbus with 12 points, while classmate Devin Berry had eight. Jones added six points.
Beasley and Berry give Columbus length, size, and strength in the post and plenty of hope for Smith that their development will make the program even stronger.
Columbus used a layup by Beasley off a pass from Jones to take a 40-38 lead with 5 minutes, 4 seconds to play. But a 3-pointer by Rashon Coleman (game-high 19 points) gave Tupelo the lead for good. Columbus had three shots from the field to take the lead. It then had another shot from the free-throw line with 2:02 remaining, but Jones missed both free throws. Tupelo hit its final six from the charity stripe to put the game away.
“We have gotten better, I have become a better coach, and my players have become better players,” Smith said. “We’re right there. We are on the cusp. The better team won tonight. We’re going to get better. We want to play them one more time.”
Columbus may get that wish later this season when it plays host to the region tournament.
If it gets that opportunity, it will have to contain Coleman and Dajon Reno (10 points), who combined to hit three straight treys at the beginning of the third quarter to help turn the momentum of the game.
Tupelo coach James Pate said his team finally found its stroke and then backed it up with a solid effort on its press and on defense.
“Columbus is a hard opponent to play,” Pate said. “Coach Smith does a tremendous job taking away easy shots. They play extremely hard, and that is a tribute to coach. Our guys hit some big shots. We were able to get some big rebounds, and when we needed to make a stop we were able to get a stop.”
In the girls game, Columbus (16-2, 5-0) raced to a 9-0 lead and led 26-10 after one quarter, 47-22 at halftime, and 64-32 at the end of three quarters before coach Yvonne Hairston went to the bench early in the fourth quarter.
n In other action Tuesday, Sallie Kate Richardson had 14 points and eight rebounds, and Anna Lea Little had 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Starkville Academy girls basketball team to a 48-16 victory against Hillcrest.
Richardson had four blocked shots, while Little had two blocks to help the Lady Volunteers improve to 22-3 and 8-0 in the division.
The Starkville Academy junior varsity girls basketball team lost 58-32 to Hillcrest.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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