JACKSON — Kristie Williams couldn’t stop clapping.
After four consecutive turnovers to start the fourth quarter had the Starkville High School girls basketball team trailing by 10 points, Williams kept pacing the sideline with a positive vibe, pounding her palms together to keep her players energized.
Williams had no idea the results her positivity could create, but when you have a group of young kids that doesn’t know any better, a 10-point deficit isn’t that big a hold to overcome.
Buoyed by a 19-2 run in the final 4 minutes, 43 seconds, that’s precisely what Starkville did Saturday night to beat Hattiesburg 59-52 in the quarterfinals of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A State tournament at Mississippi Coliseum.
“We did it with pure grit. We didn’t want it to end,” Williams said. “We have come so far and they were bound and determined not to give up. It is all about pride. They were determined to keep fighting no matter what. It is just really great to know we were down 10, but we didn’t give up. It is just hard work. It is a testament to hard work throughout this entire season.”
Starkville (25-4), which received a bye and defeated Clinton 50-36 in the second round, will play reigning Class 6A state champion Horn Lake (27-4), which defeated Terry 57-21 on Saturday night, at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the state semifinals at Mississippi Coliseum. The winner of that game will advance to the state title game at 6 p.m. Saturday, also at “The Big House.”
Tanita Thompson led Starkville with 17 points and 13 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end. Thompson’s yeoman’s effort on the glass helped the Lady Yellow Jackets amass a 50-33 rebounding edge. That cushion helped offset 26 turnovers against Hattiesburg’s 2-1-2 press.
Hattiesburg (26-3) led 50-40 after two free throws by Tamia Stinson with 4:43 to go. A putback by Kelsey Jones started the comeback. Tabreea Gandy added a drive, Thompson scored on her second attempt off an offensive rebound, Jariah Covington hit 1 of 2 free throws, Thompson scored on a drive, and Covington added a 3-pointer with 1:23 to go to complete the rally and tie the game. Hattiesburg had four missed field goals and three turnovers in that stretch. The Lady Tigers opted not to slow the pace and pull the ball out and make the Lady Yellow Jackets foul them and continued to push the tempo. The decision ultimately came back to haunt them.
Gandy’s old-fashioned three-point play with 1:06 gave Starkville the lead for good, 55-52. Thompson added a layup and then rebounded a missed free throw by Covington and hit 1 of 2 free throws with 8.5 seconds to account for the final margin.
Gandy added 11 points and seven rebounds, while Eryka Williams had 10 points for Starkville. The Lady Yellow Jackets needed all hands on deck because Jones, the team’s leading scorer, was in foul trouble all night. She played only 18 minutes and had six points and 10 rebounds.
Thompson, one of six seniors on a team with a bounty of young guards, was more than happy to play the warrior, or the one who provided a lift off the bench with infectious energy.
“I just had faith. I just had faith in my teammates and faith in my point guard that she would bring the ball up the floor and do what she had to do,” Thompson said. “That’s what we did. You just got to have faith. We could have been down by 20. I had faith we were going to come back.”
Thompson said she knew from practicing every day with her teammates that the Lady Yellow Jackets had the mental strength and focus not to become discouraged by so many turnovers against the press and in the half-court offense. She said everyone supported each other during the comeback to help Starkville get it done when it counted the most.
The only negative from the victory is Starkville will have to run at its next practice. Thompson said running is the team’s punishment for turnovers. With 26 against Hattiesburg, Starkville will have plenty of conditioning to take care of before getting to the game plan for Horn Lake. But running in practice is better than putting the balls away for the season.
“We have to come back Wednesday and play again, so we’re going to get the running done and be back in time for Wednesday,” Thompson said. “Whatever the situation, or how many points you are down, or how many turnovers you commit, be a warrior and go out and get it done. You could be down by 20 or 30, but you still have to come down and do what you need to do. You always have to get it done no matter what.”
Williams will be there with her players, clapping them on through the conditioning and pushing them to believe that they can take the next step.
“I know I have a lot of young players out there and this is a big stage, and some of them have not been on this big stage before, so I knew turnovers were going to be pretty high in this game,” Williams said. “But you cannot allow them to get discouraged. That is what I did not want to do. I wanted them to battle through every adversity, and that’s what they did. I wanted to be their biggest fan tonight, and that’s what I was.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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