STARKVILLE — The Starkville High School basketball teams finished Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A, Region 3 play on a strong note Friday with a doubleheader sweep of Madison Central.
The Starkville girls finished 6-0 in region play thanks to a 62-40 victory. Starkville (19-4) won its seventh straight and clinched the top seed in the region tournament, which starts Feb. 17 at Starkville.
Sophomore Kelsey Jones led Starkville with 31 points.
In the boys game, Starkville pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 71-58 victory.
Raphael Leonard led the Yellow Jackets with 16 points, followed by Nick Deloach with 15 and Tyson Carter with 14.
Starkville (17-5, 4-2) will be the second seed in the region. Friday’s defeat was the first region setback for Madison Central.
n Columbus sweeps South Panola: At Columbus, the Falcons and Lady Falcons swept a non-region basketball doubleheader at home.
The Columbus girls improved to 13-10 with a 69-63 victory. Rokila Wallace led the Lady Falcons with 22 points, while Zaria Jenkins added 12.
The Columbus boys improved to 18-5 with a 66-40 win. Jay Jay Swanigan had 15 points, while Cameron Douglas had 11 for the Falcons.
Columbus earns the No. 2 seed on the girls side and No. 3 seed on the boys side for the region tournament, which starts Feb. 17 at Starkville.
n Oxford sweeps New Hope: At Oxford, the Chargers and Lady Chargers each nailed down the top spot in the MHSAA Class 5A, Region 2 race with a pair of victories at home.
In the opener, the Oxford girls earned a 49-34 victory.
New Hope (3-22, 0-6) received nine points from Jada Jamison.
Oxford (18-7, 6-0) will be the region’s top seed, while New Hope will be No. 4. The tournament begins Feb. 17 at West Point.
On the boys side, Oxford earned revenge for an earlier defeat with a 70-57 victory.
Demyis Mayberry led New Hope (17-7, 4-2) with 12 points, while Shemar Johnson added nine.
Jarkel Joiner led Oxford (21-4, 4-2) with 13 points.
Oxford and New Hope finished tied for the spot in the region. Based on the tiebreaker, Oxford will be No. 1 seed and New Hope will be No. 2 seed.
n West Point sweeps Saltillo: At West Point, the Green Wave and Lady Wave closed their Class 5A, Region 2 schedule with a pair of home wins.
In the nightcap, the West Point boys won 53-51 on Tre Ivy tip-in as time expired in overtime. Ecurb Forest led West Point (10-11, 1-5) with 21 points.
West Point will be the fourth seed in the region tournament, which starts Feb. 17 at West Point.
On the girls side, West Point won 47-36.
After winning seven games a season ago, West Point (14-12, 4-2) has doubled that total and earned the No. 2 seed for the region tournament.
n Starkville Academy girls lose: Sarah Morgan Pellum had 16 points and seven rebounds Friday night in the Starkville Academy girls basketball team’s 56-33 loss to Jackson Academy.
Adrienne Futral had seven points and four steals for the Lady Volunteers.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.