STARKVILLE — Bruce Allsup hasn’t worried about his team’s courage this season.
The Starkville Academy coach has been laying the foundation the past two years to push the Volunteer program into the right direction. In Allsup’s mind, it all begins with character and bravery.
The Volunteers finished last season with a losing record, but Allsup had begun to change the culture. It’s showed on the court this season and the Volunteers leaned on that culture Tuesday night. SA trailed rival Heritage Academy for most of the game, but rallied late to beat the Patriots 47-46 in a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, District 2 game.
“I think it just shows that we’ve got a lot of character, we’ve got a lot of intestinal fortitude, that’s what I’m so proud of,” Allsup said, who used to coach Heritage. “We’ve got that just don’t quit attitude. We’ve got a good basketball team. We believe in ourselves.”
After Heritage Academy’s Donte Gray got a steal and took it to the basket for layup and a 46-45 Patriot lead, the Volunteers answered with a steal by Carter Roach. Roach passed ahead to Reid Stevens, but he couldn’t get the layup to go. Luckily for the Volunteers, Ade Amusa was there for the offensive rebound and the two-handed putback to give the Volunteers the final lead with less than 20 seconds remaining.
The Patriots couldn’t score in the final seconds and the Volunteers (14-5, 2-0 MAIS AAA, District 2) walked away victorious.
Allsup said they switched from a zone defense to man-to-man and went to trapping the Heritage Academy ball-handler in the fourth quarter. He felt like the change in defense confused the Patriots and gave the Volunteers an edge.
SA trailed the entire game until taking a 43-42 lead with 4 minutes, 17 seconds remaining. Stevens knocked down his second consecutive 3-pointer to give the Volunteers the lead. Kyle Faver followed Steven’s 3 with a bucket to cap off an 8-0 run for the Volunteers and a 45-42 lead.
The Volunteers had several chances to take the lead, but each time, the Patriots answered and pushed the lead back out. Stevens, who scored 12 points, said at times it felt like the Volunteers were never going to take the lead and overcome the deficit.
“You just had to have confidence because basketball is a game of change,” Stevens said. “It can change just like that. Having that confidence that we were able to do it I think is what helped us come back. We broke down every huddle with finish on three.”
The Volunteers fell behind 12-2 in the first quarter, but went on a 14-5 run to cut the lead to 17-16 with only seconds remaining in the opening quarter. The Patriots pushed the momentum back to their side as Camden Sanders got an offensive rebound and putback as time ran out in the initial quarter.
The Patriots (11-3, 1-1) held a 25-19 lead in the second quarter, but the Volunteers finished the first half on a 6-2 run to trail 27-25 at halftime.
“I don’t think we played our best, but I think they had a lot to do with it,” Allsup said. “The good thing about it is when you don’t play your best and you find a way to win, that’s big.
“We just kept fighting and wouldn’t have that quit attitude.”
Heritage Academy built a seven-point lead at 38-31 on a 5-2 run in the third quarter, but the Volunteers scored the final three points in the third quarter to trail 38-34 entering the fourth quarter. Amusa, who led the Vols with 15 points, scored the final bucket of the third quarter to give his team the momentum. Codie Futral added 10 points.
Heritage coach Gary Harris felt like his team was in good shape entering the fourth quarter because he felt like the Volunteers were tired. He said the difference in the fourth quarter was Starkville Academy’s ability to get offensive rebounds and stay on its end of the floor.
“We had opportunities to push the lead out and we didn’t seize them,” Harris said. “I just thought they were tougher than us. We talked a little bit about that at the end of the game, we’ve got to be tougher as a basketball team, not just physically but mentally.”
Sanders led the Patriots with 11 points, while Gray had 10.
The Volunteers hope this is the start of something special for the rest of the season because they believe they have what it takes to win under Allsup.
“We’re just tough and we’re not going to give up,” Stevens said. “We may not be the most athletic team on the court, but we’re going to play the hardest.”
nStarkville Academy girls 60, Heritage Academy 32, The Lady Volunteers outscored the Lady Patriots 39-13 in the final three quarters to pick up their seventh-straight win.
After leading just 21-19 after the first quarter, the Lady Vols shut out the Lady Patriots in the second quarter and led 34-19 at halftime. SA led 51-26 after three quarters.
“I preach defense and I preach rebounding, but when that ball goes into the hole, you get pretty fired up,” SA coach Glenn Schmidt said. “There’s no other way around it, but I think your defense does precipitate your offense.”
The Lady Vols (16-8, 2-0) shot 38 percent (24 of 62) from the field and held the Lady Patriots to just 23 percent (12 of 51).
Bonner Hughes led SA with 19 points. Sydney Passons added 12 points, while Hannah Cuevas pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
Laura Pole made three 3-pointers in the first quarter and led Heritage (7-10, 0-2) with 16 points.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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