Heritage girls will try to build on loss

The future begins today.

Yandell Harris believes the Heritage Academy girls basketball team can challenge for the top spot in the North Half. For the Lady Patriots to accomplish that goal, Harris said his players will have to learn from a 40-23 loss to Hillcrest Christian on Tuesday in the first round of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, Division II tournament in Columbus.

Lady Bulldogs still with hopes of postseason

STARKVILLE — Maybe this is the best situation for the Mississippi State University women’s basketball team.

Last season, the Lady Bulldogs regrouped from three months of ups and downs to play their best basketball. Even though MSU only went 5-5 in the final two months, it showed positive building blocks en route to a 13-17 finish.

Pickens Academy stands two wins from state title

CARROLLTON, Ala. — Wade Goodman admits he demands a lot from his players.

A year ago, the teamwork and selflessness Goodman asks of his Pickens Academy girls basketball team were tough to adjust to. The transition from Alabama Independent School Association Class AA champion in 2010 to rebuilding team in 2011 was difficult enough.

LADY FALCONS SOAR: Columbus High wins playoff opener

Angela Reynolds knew about Kiandria Patterson and Maggie Proffitt.

The Northwest Rankin High School girls basketball coach didn’t know the rest of the players on the Columbus High team had improved so much.

Columbus thankful for chance at second season

The fact that the Columbus High School boys basketball team has a chance means everything to coach Sammy Smith.

While so many other teams have collected uniforms and put the basketballs away for the season, Columbus has a chance at 7 tonight against Jackson Jim Hill in the first round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A North State tournament simply because it has a chance.

Johnson, Porter help MSU rally past Ole Miss in OT

STARKVILLE — Diamber Johnson and Porsha Porter have been the engine that drives the Mississippi State University women’s basketball team all season.

When the senior guards are on, the Lady Bulldogs can compete with any team in the Southeastern Conference. When they struggle, MSU can get stuck in neutral and look like a team searching for answers.

CHS girls ready for any tempo

The Columbus High School girls basketball team is ready to take the next step.

Whether the Lady Falcons take that step quickly — thanks to a push of the ball from Kiandria Patterson or Daisha Williams — or they slow down and do it a little more deliberately — capped by a 3-pointer by Maggie Proffitt — remains to be seen.

Fanning-Otis wants MSU women to take next step

Sharon Fanning-Otis is waiting for the Mississippi State women’s basketball team to take the next step.

The veteran coach sees her team making progress, but she also knows time is running out.

With five games remaining in the regular season, MSU (13-11, 3-8 Southeastern Conference) has little room for error as it prepares to play host to the University of Mississippi at 2:30 p.m. today (SportSouth) at Humphrey Coliseum.

Lady Falcons win title; Columbus boys lose in championship

The Columbus High School girls basketball team showed Friday night it has the ability to deliver a knockout punch and the conditioning to last 15 rounds.

The CHS boys showed they are developing that knack but that they lack the experience and are still learning how to go the distance.

MSU’s Johnson has changed roles, on verge of 1,000

STARKVILLE — The number is imposing.

Diamber Johnson doesn’t remember the shot that helped her eclipse the 2,000-point mark in high school, but she knows it came in the “Big House,” or the Mississippi Coliseum, in Jackson.

Johnson also doesn’t know where she will hit her next milestone.

CHS has title date for two with Tupelo

Next man up.

That’s the mind-set the Columbus High School basketball team has used all season. It worked again in an elimination game Tuesday night, as Deontae Jones and Robert Irby each had 11 points to lead Columbus to a 57-44 victory against Grenada in the Class 6A, Region 2 tournament at Columbus High.

New Hope’s Taylor signs with Meridian C.C.

Chase Taylor has played golf long enough to know doing things too quickly doesn’t help his game.

Taylor decided Monday to apply that same thinking to his college decision when he signed a scholarship to play golf at Meridian Community College.

CHS basketball ready to take flight

Sammy Smith and Yvonne Hairston have used the memories of the 2010-11 season as building blocks throughout this season.

The Columbus High School boys and girls basketball coaches hope those lessons will be put to use tonight when their teams kick off the second seasons. The top-seeded Columbus girls will play host to fourth-seeded Grenada at 7 p.m., while the second-seeded CHS boys will play host to third-seeded Grenada at 8:30 p.m. in the final two of four games on the opening day of action in the Class 6A, Region 2 tournament at Columbus High.

Starkville’s Gordon has more than speed

STARKVILLE — Don’t let the speed fool you, Justin Gordon is a complete soccer player.

The Starkville High School sophomore forward/midfielder understands, though, that when you have blazing speed it often leaves an impression with opponents that you are a one-dimensional player.

Vanderbilt women execute down stretch to beat MSU

STARKVILLE — Nearly a year later, the Mississippi State women’s basketball team is in an eerily similar position.

Johnson out to put MSU back on track

STARKVILLE — Diamber Johnson is re-energized.

Now that her mother is back home after suffering a heart attack nearly two weeks ago, the senior guard wants to make the most of the rest of her senior season.

The Mississippi State women’s basketball team hopes it isn’t too late.

JACKETS WN STATE TITLE: Starkville tops Pascagoula for Class 5A soccer title

CLINTON — Justin Gordon had been just out of reach all evening.

Whether it was Taylor Wise or Dylan Howard or Kase Kingery, no one could put just the right touch on a service to get the speedy Gordon behind the defense.

All the Starkville High School boys soccer team needed was a kiss from Price Day to send it on its way to history.

New Hope, Caledonia basketball searching for consistency

CALEDONIA — Consistency was an elusive ingredient Thursday night.

For large stretches of his team’s game against New Hope High School, Caledonia High boys basketball coach Josh Scott saw a team that shared the basketball, took good shots, and did a lot of things it takes to win games.

Take away the final four minutes of the second quarter and the Confederates might have accomplished that goal.

Early work helped Kingery build solid foundation

STARKVILLE — Growing up, Kase Kingery never saw playing with a soccer ball as “work.”

Like a lot of kids who had discovered a sport that fit them, Kingery spent as many hours as he could with a soccer ball honing his skills. The drills he did in and around Starkville often included dribbling exercises and shooting tests with his right and left foot. He would try to hit the crossbar again and again, or he would use a T-shirt as a target and place it on the crossbar.

Columbus has eight seniors reach next level

Tony Stanford and his coaches have reason to be proud.

In 2008, Stanford came to Columbus High School with coach Bubba Davis with a goal to transform the school’s football program.

Stanford continued that mission after taking over for Davis as head coach prior to the 2010 season. Like Davis, his formula included a core principle: Hard work in the weight room pays dividends.

The eight Columbus High School football players who signed scholarships to play football in college are proof the Falcons are moving in the right direction.