STARKVILLE — When all else was failing, Starkville High School senior Keith Harris had a plan.
As his team suffered through its worst offensive night of the season, Harris stood tall with 14 second-half point as Starkville rallied past Bolton (Arlington, Tennessee) 48-38 in the final game Tuesday of the opening day of the Travis Outlaw Slam Dunk at the Hump tournament being played at Mississippi State’s Humphrey Coliseum.
Starkville (12-1) won its 11th straight with its lowest offensive output of the season.
“(Bolton) likes to spread it out and make things hard on you on offense,” Starkville coach Greg Carter said. “However, we were missing wide-open shots. We were missing a lot of them. Defensively, we played really well. Offensively, there won’t be many games we can win going forward playing like this.”
On defense, Harris drew the assignment of guarding Bolton’s Jaylen Fisher, the State of Tennessee’s top prospect by 247 Sports and a UNLV commitment. Fisher scored 10 points but also commuted two offensive fouls in the space of three possessions in the first half.
After Fisher blew past Harris for an easy layup, Harris then had his juices flowing.
“It was a big challenge and I was happy to accept it,” Harris said. “He is a legitimate Division I player. To be able to control him and help my team win meant a lot. It was exciting to be out there playing this game in this tournament. We didn’t make shots but we know as a team, we are better than that.”
After Bolton (6-4) erased an eight-point deficit for a 30-29 lead, Harris took things into his own hands. In the final 8 minutes, 45 seconds, he scored nine of his 18 points, including a three-pointer and then a drive to the basket for an old-fashioned 3-point play.
Tyson Carter also started the game-decisive 9-0 run for the Yellow Jackets by hitting his first 3-pointer after seven misses. Harris followed with his offensive flurry and Starkville was finally in good shape.
“In the second half, Keith did a great job of going to the rim,” Greg Carter said. “We just didn’t have a lot of guys going to the rim. When you are missing everything from outside, you have to change some things up and go inside. We didn’t do a really good job of that. Keith got to the rim and did a great job of finishing, I think you could tell he was excited by how he was playing on defense.”
Starkville led throughout the first half, including 22-16 at the intermission, as Bolton had its own offensive struggles. The Yellow Jackets have had other offensive lapses throughout the season but none have been nearly as prolonged as this one.
“We are always going to rebound and defend because that can win a lot of games when your shots aren’t falling,” Harris said. “I knew I had to step up because we really couldn’t get anything going.”
Tyson Carter finished with 11 points for Starkville, while Darrious Agnew added nine points.
In its tournament opener, the Starkville girls had no problems in a 72-33 rout of Raleigh-Egypt (Memphis, Tennessee).
The Lady Jackets overcame some struggles on the defensive end in the first quarter to outscore their guests 33-5 in the second quarter for a commanding 53-16 lead at halftime.
“Our ball movement was really good,” Starkville coach Kristie Williams said. “I think that is what you take away from this game. When you play your first game back after a break, you are worried about how the team will respond. After a slow start, we really kicked it in gear there in the second quarter. It was a good win because we got a lot of players involved and those players each got a taste of the coliseum.”
Kelsey Jones led Starkville with 18 points, while Eryka Williams had 12 points and Shannon Tate had 11 points.
Today in the signature game of this event, No. 2 Starkville (12-0) will face No. 1 Olive Branch (15-0) at 2:30 p.m. Olive Branch beat Harrison Central 71-54 earlier Tuesday.
“The girls are excited to be playing this game,” Williams said. “We will learn a lot.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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