The Columbus High School boys basketball team wasn’t expected to struggle Friday night against Northwest Rankin.
After all, Northwest Rankin entered the game winless in the region and with just three wins. Still, leading by 12 points in the fourth after leading by more than 20, Columbus coach Sammy Smith shook his head and gave his players the stink eye. Arguably his most talented and athletic — and biggest — team in recent memory, Smith is keen to see his team make a run to the state tournament.
Closing games without efficiency, effort, and awareness wasn’t going to cut it Friday. It also won’t aid the Falcons’ cause down the road. Two slam dunks and a 67-50 win later, Smith waffled between the coach’s mantra of “next game” and the big picture of a postseason run.
“I can’t even tell you our overall record,” Smith said, “because I’m only worried about how we did tonight and who we play next. But from here on out, we have to be playing downhill. We can’t have moments like we had tonight — where we get lax. I really wanted to see my guys play without being coached all the time. I want to sit back and watch the guys do what they know to do.”
At 13-4 and 3-3 in Class 6A, Region 3 play, Columbus has won four-straight games since falling to Madison Central. They play five more games before the district tournament.
Columbus led by two at the end of the first quarter, but forwards Chris DeLoach, Robert Woodward, and Demetrice Clopton went to work, drawing Northwest Rankin into the bonus and combining for 11 points and powering Columbus to a 34-19 halftime lead.
Woodward had a team-high 21 points, while Clopton had 13 and DeLoach had 12.
“(Northwest Rankin) started in man, and we knew they couldn’t match us in size, so coach started emphasizing getting the ball down low, going up strong and knocking down free throws,” DeLoach said. “Then, they went to the press, the 1-2-2, and the flash guy was open.”
Columbus shot more than double the number of free throws than Northwest Rankin, which despite a hot hand from Nick Anderson (game-high 22 points), couldn’t match Columbus’ length.
“The game plan was to double down on the bigs and when they bring it down, make sure you attack the ball,” Northwest Rankin coach Lorenzo Bailey said. “It was a great game plan, even when you look at the foul count — 30 to 17, they shoot 40 and we shoot 10, and it’s a 17-point game. It’s hard to win when you don’t get enough trips to the line.”
Girls
n Northwest Rankin 59, Columbus 55
A late rally wouldn’t cut it this time around for the Lady Falcons.
Columbus, which scored 16 fourth-quarter points to escape Northwest Rankin by two points earlier this month, found itself in a similar situation and riding the same ebb and flow in the rematch.
The Lady Falcons erased a 12-point deficit in the second quarter, trailed by three at halftime, and led by as many as four in the fourth quarter before committing eight turnovers in the final 2 minutes, 42 seconds. Despite 18 points from Rokila Wallace and 12 from Kaylyn Wilson, Columbus fell to Northwest Rankin.
The game wrapped up district play and left Columbus (7-8, 3-3 Class 6A Region 3) second behind Starkville High, which will play host to the district tournament.
With a string of non-conference games slated before the district tournament, Columbus coach Yvonne Hairston was disappointed to see her team play recklessly, particularly at home.
“We just turned the ball over way too much,” Hairston said. “I don’t know what they were trying to do. We didn’t go over any of that in practice. Maybe they were nervous, just pressing too much. We lost a game we should have won.”
Northwest Rankin taxed Columbus’ zone defense with precise perimeter shooting, particularly in the first quarter, when the Lady Cougars made three 3-pointers for a 9-5 lead. Kristin Rice and Jailon Burton combined to nail seven 3-pointers.
“We thought we could get to them a little bit quicker (on the perimeter), but we didn’t,” Hairston said.
Columbus closed the first on an 8-2 run to pull within two. It closed the second quarter on a 14-5 run to cut Northwest Rankin’s lead to three.
The Lady Falcons carried that energy into the third quarter, forcing three turnovers and claiming its first lead, 31-30, at the 5:23 mark.
“Coming out of halftime, coach told us to attack and go for what we know,” Wallace said. “Things were clicking.”
But it wasn’t until Columbus took its largest lead — 48-44 — after a jumper by Wilson – that things started to unravel. Northwest Rankin recorded four steals and converted each into points to take a 54-48 lead en route to the victory.
“I think we wanted it all at one time instead of being patient,” Wallace said. “I don’t know.”
Zaria Jenkins finished with nine points and Torie Weir had six for Columbus. Rice had 18 and Burton had 17 for Northwest Rankin.
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