STARKVILLE — Early in the second quarter, Starkville High School senior Raphael Leonard leaped through the air, snagged a loose basketball, and threw it over his back to a waiting teammate. Seconds later, the improbable save led to an easy basket.
Leonard made several similar catches in a standout career at wide receiver for the school’s football team. On Tuesday night, he was clearing a baseline instead of a goal line, but his effort epitomized the grit and determination of all of his teammates.
A lightning-fast start carried Starkville past Columbus 62-49 in an opening-round game of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A, Region 3 tournament being at Starkville High.
“It was all about effort,” Leonard said. “We didn’t want to leave any doubt we were going to play with an incredible amount of effort. We owed it to ourselves to play with that kind of effort. That is what it was going to take to win.”
Starkville will face Madison Central at 8:30 p.m. Friday for the region championship. Keenan Barnes scored 23 points (17 in the third quarter) Tuesday night as Madison Central steamrolled Northwest Rankin 75-41 in Tuesday’s other semifinal.
By winning Tuesday night, Starkville is guaranteed a spot in next week’s Class 6A North State playoffs. It can earn a first-round bye by defeating Madison Central. Meanwhile, Columbus will face Northwest Rankin in a 5:30 p.m. start Friday in the consolation game. The winner will qualify for the playoffs.
Starkville and Columbus split two regular-season meetings. However, most fresh on everyone’s mind was the second meeting — a 67-44 win by Columbus on Jan. 16.
“It was a really big (motivational factor),” Starkville junior Tyson Carter said. “We didn’t want that to happen to us again because it was real embarrassing. We didn’t want that feeling anymore, so we had to work on the things we didn’t do in the loss. We were well prepared and it showed.”
Starkville coach Greg Carter typically draws from past series matchups to devise a game plan. However, those past results are rarely used for motivation. Tuesday night was different.
“(The last meeting) was big, I mean huge,” Greg Carter said. “You can’t go out and play like that and not look forward to a chance to play that team again. It’s a little different in that it was Columbus, and that’s a big rivalry situation. However, you want to play and compete and show you are not that type of team, so it was a big factor. It gave us a lot of motivation before the game started.”
While the motivation built up Starkville, an inability to make shots tore down Columbus. The Falcons (20-6) were 0 of 17 from the field in the first quarter. The misses came from 3-point range, the top of the free-throw circle, and in the paint. Three-pointers rimmed out, as did dunks and putbacks.
“We dug such a hole,” Columbus coach Sammy Smith said. “Our effort was good. We competed for four quarters. We could not make a shot in the first quarter. They outworked us for some 50-50 balls. I thought their effort level was really good to start the game and we didn’t match that. Then when the shots didn’t fall, we got discouraged instead of continuing to work on defense.
“The kids battled and made a game of it, but the first quarter was difficult.”
Columbus scored the first point before Starkville reeled off the next 15. Carter had nine points in the quarter, which ended with Starkville leading 17-2.
“Everybody was on the same page and locked in,” Carter said. “We knew what they were going to do because we played them twice. Everybody shot the ball well tonight. Good defense turns into offense for our team. We made some shots early, and that was the difference in the game.”
Leonard said the team knew the stakes were high. Starkville won 53-46 in the first series meeting and is 11-0 at home this season.
“We knew what happened last game, so we wanted to come out and get some revenge,” Leonard said. “It’s always a physical game with Columbus. We wanted to come out and out-tough them and be mentally tough enough to win. We need this kind of offense every time we come out. We practice this way, with guys coming in and contributing on offense and defense.”
Starkville stretched the lead to 36-15 in the final minute of the second quarter. Nick Deloach had all 10 of his points in seven possessions in the quarter to help Starkville lead 36-19 at halftime.
Behind a dominating performance by Robert Woodard, the Falcons took flight. Columbus scored six-straight points to end the third quarter to cut the deficit to 42-36 after a 24-foot 3-pointer by Woodard. The trey came right after Woodard drove baseline, converted a jumper in the lane and hit the free throw that came with the basket.
“We needed one more stop to really make it a game,” Smith said. “It was rather amazing we were in that position.”
Woodard scored 10 of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter. However, the Falcons never could get one more stop. The good news is they will get another chance Friday night.
Under the previous playoff format, the season would have ended Tuesday night. The third-place game will give Columbus a chance to extend its season.
“We hadn’t even talked about (the third-place game) with our kids,” Smith said. “Some of them were a little surprised when we said (after the game) we would play again Friday. It’s not a lifeline we earned, but it is one that has been given to us, so we need to come out and play well and take advantage of it.”
Carter led all scorers with 19 points. Leonard and Deloach had 10, while Josh Skinner had nine for Starkville.
While negative memories of the Columbus series fueled Tuesday’s performance, the opposite holds true for Friday. Even though Madison Central is the region’s top seed, Starkville took a 71-58 win two weeks ago to even the season series.
“This win here gives us a tremendous amount of confidence going into the Madison Central game,” Tyson Carter said. “We have already beaten Madison Central once. We know if we play like this we will win.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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