STARKVILLE – As Region 2-7A play rolls along, the Starkville Yellow Jackets keep rolling right along with it, with both the boys and girls teams posting dominant wins over Clinton on Thursday night at The Nest.
In the girls’ opener, Jada Gay’s 19 points helped the Jackets cruise past the Arrows, 65-31. Zariyah Brown chipped in 15 points – including three first-quarter 3-pointers – to help Starkville to a 21-10 lead after one quarter.
The second quarter was much of the same, with the Jackets controlling the game to the tune of a 41-21 halftime lead.
Things didn’t get much better for Clinton from there, as the Arrows were held to just 10 points in the second half, including 2 in the fourth quarter. While a running clock certainly limited their opportunities, it was a stifling Jacket defense that really did the job.
“We did a good job flying around a little bit more compared to what we did last time (against Clinton),” head coach Matt Wilbanks said. “I kind of chewed on them a little bit because we had given up 21 points (in the first half). We have played such good defense all year… and we kinda tightened up a little bit (in the second half).
The Yellow Jackets (21-3, 6-0) have a road test at Madison Central looming Tuesday. Starkville won the first meeting 58-40
Starkville boys 70, Clinton 35
A balanced attack, led by TJ Warren’s 13 points, along with a solid defensive effort, pushed the Jackets past Clinton for their sixth straight win to open 2-7A play.
Kobe Hendrix, Jaden Tate, Ladanuel Jordan and Tyreq Hendrix each added eight points for Starkville (21-1, 6-0). The Jackets raced out to a 17-4 first quarter lead and never looked back, leading 37-17 at the half and 54-24 after three quarters. With the backups in and a running clock, Starkville still managed to outscore Clinton 16-11 in a high-octane fourth quarter.
Like their last few games, the Jackets are making a concerted effort to play inside out, especially with the size advantage from the 6-foot-5 Jordan and fellow senior Jerwan McCarter, who is 6-foot-7.
“We’ve got a size advantage, especially with Ladanuel, so we try to make sure that we get it to him early just to see how all the teams are going to be able to go at him,” head coach Anthony Carlyle said.
With the score out of hand early, Carlyle had an opportunity to give major minutes to underclassmen like Andricus “Duece” Howard, Traylen Guy and Jamari Ross, who chipped in a combined 10 points off the bench. The coach sees these minutes as an investment in the future.
“We’ve got five seniors this year and we’re going to have to replace those guys next year, so getting (the underclassmen) some meaningful minutes…helps with their development.”
Starkville travels to Madison Central on Tuesday for a region road matchup. The Jackets won the first meeting 77-43.
Philip Poe is sports editor.
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