STARKVILLE — Starkville High School girls basketball coach Kristie Williams commonly refers to the season as a marathon instead of a sprint.
Friday night had to feel like two marathons.
For the third time this season, Starkville was taken to the brink by archrival Columbus. Again, the Lady Jackets survived.
Starkville completed a season sweep of Columbus with a 59-52 win the championship game of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A, Region 3 tournament. For the Starkville girls, it was their first region championship since 2009.
Both teams advance to the Class 6A playoffs and will play at home. Columbus will play host to a first-round game Monday, while Starkville receives a first-round bye and will play Friday.
“The biggest thing about our team is staying focused,” Starkville junior Eryka Williams said. “The coaches always talk to us about staying focused. It’s a long season. We never get too high or too low. We just try to play as hard as we can for as long as we can.”
Starkville (23-4) found offensive balance early. Seven players scored in a 20-point first quarter that saw the Lady Jackets take a 20-10 lead.
Columbus (16-11) applied full-court pressure to crawl back into the game. Similar to its region tournament win against Northwest Rankin, Columbus made the most of the final three minutes of the first half and trailed 26-23 at halftime.
“Our balance was really good,” coach Williams said. “(Center) Kelsey (Jones) gets us going most nights. However, when we hit some shots from outside we have a really good night. Our confidence level was really high from the start. Having played Columbus in two really tough games already helped us.
“It is hard to beat a team three times this season. But the first couple of games with them prepared us for the grind. We knew we were going to have work really hard and play for four quarters. Our composure was really good when Columbus made their runs.”
Starkville again rode the strength of a capacity crowd to a 12-point second-half lead before Columbus made one final statement.
Columbus chipped away with seven-straight points to pull within one at 48-47 after a putback by Zaria Jenkins and jumper in the lane by Kayla Rogers. Columbus trailed 50-49 on another score by Rogers.
The door was then open when Jones missed the front end of a one-and-one. However, Columbus traveled on the other end. There would be no such reprieve the rest of the way, as Starkville hit 9 of 10 free throws in the final 63 seconds to seal the win.
“We had some opportunities,” Columbus coach Yvonne Hairston said. “We really gave a great effort but couldn’t get that one more stop we needed. Now it’s time to regroup and focus on Monday night. This hurts for a little while, but then you have to turn around quickly and get ready for the playoffs.”
Coach Williams said the mental toughness of her team was displayed on the free-throw line.
“Free throws have been an issue all year,” Williams said. “That was the best part about the win. To be able to go up there when the game was on the line and deliver like that was really clutch. We have a young team, but it is a sign of their growth and maturity. It really doesn’t matter how big the situation is, these girls like to play the game.”
Starkville improved to 11-1 at home this season. The Lady Jackets will carry an 11-game win streak into the postseason.
“The togetherness of this team is really outstanding,” Eryka Williams said. “We are together more this year than we were last year. I think a lot of people had doubts about what type of team we could have this year. Now people are seeing what we are capable of doing.
“We have a lot of fun out there and it shows. We have a lot of confidence and that shows, too. It just seems like no matter what happens we will find a way.”
Jones believes that the players have a higher belief than from the beginning of the season. Early season losses to Newton and Jim Hill are in the rearview mirror.
“I think we really know now what we are doing,” Jones said. “When the season started, everybody was trying to figure out what to do and when to do it. In this tournament, we played the way we can play. Everybody was helping out on defense. Everybody was scoring. We have listened to our coach and really work hard in practice.”
Starkville received 16 points from Jariyah Covington, 14 points from Eryka Williams, and 13 points from Jones.
For Columbus, Temple scored 14 points and Rokila Wallace had 12.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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