By Andrew Ousley
Special to The Dispatch
STARKVILLE — Despite a sluggish start, the Starkville High School boys basketball team came away Saturday’s Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A quarterfinal with a comfortable 62-47 win over Hattiesburg at Jackson State University’s Athletics and Assembly Center.
Starkville, while extending its win streak to 11 games, also left the JSU campus with a belief it can win twice more to capture the school’s first basketball state championship since 2010.
Starkville (24-5) will face Meridian (27-6) at 8 p.m. Thursday in the Mississippi Coliseum in the semifinal round of the tournament. Starkville defeated Meridian 63-57 during the regular season.
Cold shooting and turnovers left the Yellow Jackets down by nine midway through the first quarter. Coach Greg Carter urged his boys to calm down, find their rhythm and rely on what got them to this point. His coaching worked. A 21-1 run by the Yellow Jackets gave them a solid first-half lead and they never looked back.
The balanced offense and physical defense of the Yellow Jackets kept the Tigers at arms length for the majority of the game. Although Hattiesburg’s Tristin Walley had a game-high 24 points, Starkville kept all other Tigers in single digits, causing 23 turnovers and winning the rebound battle.
As for offense, the Yellow Jackets succeeded in spreading the wealth. Eight different players scored, led by seniors, Raphael Leonard and Nick Deloach, both with 11 points. Starkville also took advantage of their chances at the free-throw line, going 20 for 28 with many coming in the crucial final moments of the game. Starkville hit 50 percent of its shots from the field.
The veteran SHS coach was happy with the outcome, but admitted that he had concerns with the Yellow Jackets’ early-game performance. For him, the game was not as comfortable as the score portrayed.
“I was a little nervous because we were so shaky at the beginning of the game. It was a physical game, but we’re moving on,” Carter said.
Merdian took down Southaven 60-45 immediately before the Yellow Jackets hit the court on Saturday morning. Carter knows his team is in for a tough match-up, but says their preparations will not be change even as they inch closer to the state championship.
“Moving forward, we’re going to do the same thing we’ve done all year. Nothing will be different for us as far as that goes,” Carter said.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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