Displeased with his team’s offensive performance in the first half against Olive Branch on Saturday, Starkville High School boys basketball coach Greg Carter turned in a curious direction to ignite his offense.
“I knew we had to start playing our style of defense,” Carter said. “Once we did that, the points would follow.”
Once Starkville clamped down on Olive Branch to start the third quarter, the points followed.
Starkville didn’t allow a field goal in the first six minutes of the third quarter and turned that into a 20-2 run that propelled it to a 68-57 win at the New Hope High Trojan Classic.
“We didn’t start the game with the same energy we started the second half with,” Carter said. “When we are defending, really defending, then we play offense better. It’s just natural.”
After leading only 27-26 at halftime, the defensive intensity helped the Yellow Jackets (10-3) build a 47-28 cushion. Starkville’s pressure forced Olive Branch to miss its first nine shots. Olive Branch also committed five turnovers in that stretch. The intensity leaked over to the offensive end, where Starkville made 3-pointers on four of five trips.
“Playing defense definitely led into our offense,” said Tyson Carter, the coach’s son who led Starkville with 16 points. “Once we started getting easy shots, it became contagious.”
Starkville guard Josh Skinner, held scoreless in the first half, connected on three third-quarter treys and finished with 11 points.
“It was contagious,” Skinner said. “Once the first shot went down, it seemed like they were all going in.”
All of the shots didn’t fall, but enough of them did to push Starkville’s second-half lead to as many as 20. The Yellow Jackets led 52-34 entering the fourth quarter.
“That one stretch killed us,” said Olive Branch coach Eric Rombaugh, whose team fell to 11-5. “They are a good team, and once you let them get rolling, it’s tough. We missed a lot of shots that we normally make.”
Starkville benefited from an off night by Olive Branch guard Tray Boyd, who was averaging 17 points entering the game. But Boyd was plagued with foul trouble from the outset and missed his first six shots. He finished with 10 points. Josh Crutcher had 17 points and Darrin Willis added 15 to lead the Conquistadors.
Defense helped Starkville score 27 points in the third quarter and set the tone.
“Olive Branch plays so many defenses. They play zone, then man-to-man, then back to zone. … They do that to try and get you to play passive,” coach Carter said. “We were passive in the first half, timid with it. But once we started getting after them defensively, we got it going on both ends.”
Once triggered by a defense that forced 18 turnovers, Starkville’s offense was balanced. Behind Carter’s 16 points, Skinner added 11 and sophomore post player Jesse Little had 10. Little also had a team-high nine rebounds. Junior Keith Harris added nine points and Jamal Williams had seven.
The win was Starkville’s first game since a double-overtime loss to Memphis (Tenn.) Southwind nine days ago. It gave the team momentum entering a week that includes games against Grenada, Northwest Rankin, and Tupelo.
“It was a good way to jump into January,” coach Carter said. “We have a tough January schedule and three difficult games this week. We needed a win like this to get us going into it.”
Starkville will play Tuesday at Grenada.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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