STARKVILLE — In the closing minutes of Friday’s game at Starkville High School, Columbus girls basketball coach Yvonne Hairston cast a glimpse at the scoreboard.
Hairston took stock of the Yellow Jackets’ growing second-half foul count, of the dwindling time left. She issued her instructions to her team: continue getting to the basket, draw whistles and “stick” as many foul shots as possible.
Senior point guard DJ Jackson and the Falcons listened.
Jackson made all 13 of her attempts from the charity stripe, including eight in the fourth quarter, as Columbus (5-2) fended off a late Starkville comeback for a 49-40 road win on Friday night.
“It was just a good feeling,” Hairston said. “When the pressure was on, they made their free throws.”
Jackson, who finished with 23 points, said her clutch performance from the stripe “lifted a big weight” off her shoulders in addition to giving the Falcons a big road win. But with the heavy emphasis Columbus’ guards place on making their foul shots, Jackson had no difficulty Friday.
“I’m just able to get up there and knock it down every time I’m on the line,” she said.
Her ability to do so was critical in a game in which Starkville (3-2) made a furious fourth-quarter comeback. Trailing by 14 points to begin the period, the Yellow Jackets cut the lead to 43-40 on a layup from Louisiana-Monroe commit Amaya Ford with exactly a minute left. But after a timeout, Jackson was fouled and made both free throws, and Starkville’s Jada Odneal missed a 3-pointer. The Jackets never scored again.
Still, Starkville coach Kristie Williams said, her team’s late-game performance was encouraging for its contests to come, including a quick turnaround Saturday against Brandon. The Jackets won that game 46-40.
“Fourth quarter, we looked like a brand new team, but we didn’t do it the first three quarters,” Williams said.
After Ford scored eight of Starkville’s first 10 points to pace the Jackets to a 15-10 lead eight minutes in, the home team suddenly went cold. Starkville scored just eight points in the next two quarters, including a mere three in the second period.
“You can’t win games when you only score three points in a quarter,” Williams said. “You have to put together more good quality effort when you go out and try to score.”
A stout Columbus defense made that plenty difficult Friday. The Falcons kept their hands out on defense per their coach’s instruction, tightened up on shooters and kept Ford out of the paint. In doing so, they forced several turnovers that led to fast-break layups as part of a 25-5 Columbus run.
“That was big for us,” Jackson said of the takeaways. “That just comes with being aggressive and in control.”
Columbus — playing with a full roster for the first time this season thanks to injuries and COVID-19 contact tracing — hosts West Lowndes on Tuesday. They’ll go into the contest with the momentum of Friday’s rivalry win.
“It was good for us to just step up,” Hairston said.
Starkville boys 52, Columbus 43
After Starkville High School sophomore Makhi Myles missed his second straight free throw in the fourth quarter Friday, Jackets teammate Coltie Young outjumped Columbus senior Steve Turner and tapped in a putback layup.
Young then raced back to the other end of the floor and leapt to block Turner’s attempt at a layup of his own.
In just two possessions, the Starkville senior had embodied — albeit in reverse order — what his team strives to do every game, the three words written in black stencil lettering on the back of their gray warmup T-shirts: DEFEND AND REBOUND.
“We did just that tonight: defending and rebounding,” Starkville assistant Ed Townsel said after the Jackets (6-0) finished off a 52-43 win over the Falcons (4-3).
Starkville, ranked No. 1 in the state by MaxPreps, hardly played a pretty game Friday but locked down on defense in order to secure the victory.
“We couldn’t make shots,” Townsel said. “We couldn’t make free throws. But the good thing is, we guarded the whole game. … That’s what won us the game tonight.”
The Jackets pulled away from the Falcons in the fourth quarter after leading just 36-35 through three. Young said Starkville was well aware it wasn’t playing up to potential and that something had to change.
“We just had to pick up our game and play harder in the second half,” Young said.
An alley-oop from senior guard Eric Green to Myles and a 3-ball by Kylan Baggett pushed Starkville’s lead to six, and a late and-one by Keyvon Pearson solidified the outcome.
Myles, seeing playing time in the frontcourt with Jamarvious Phillips and Jacob Reese both out Friday, impressed in his time on the floor. He finished with 13 points to lead the Jackets.
“I think he was really prepared for it,” Townsel said. “He’s getting better and better as he plays, stronger and stronger as he plays.”
The sophomore even tried to throw down a slam dunk early in the contest to the astonishment of the home bench.
“At the beginning, when he tried to dunk it, that surprised us,” Townsel said. “That’s the first time we’ve seen that.”
Young, Pearson and Green each had 10 points for Starkville. Blake Burnett led Columbus with 18 points, and Willie Young added 11.
Falcons coach Phillip Morris said his team delivered an “OK performance” without key contributors Tre Dismuke (strained MCL) and Ethan Conner. Columbus held Starkville to just one made 3-pointer on what Townsel called “no telling” how many attempts.
“We were down two starters, but I think with the guys we had, we did a good job,” Morris said.
Other scores
Prep Girls Basketball
Starkville 46, Brandon 40
BRANDON — The Starkville girls beat Brandon 46-40 in Saturday’s road game.
Amaya Ford had 20 points and six rebounds for the Jackets.
Starkville will next play Friday at the Tupelo Classic.
Amory 48, New Hope 46, OT, Friday
NEW HOPE — The New Hope girls lost to Amory 48-46 in overtime in Friday’s home game.
Reed McGlothin had 15 points to lead the Trojans. Anna Prince had 13, and Taylor Brownlee had eight.
New Hope’s next game is at home Friday against Itawamba Agricultural.
Hartfield Academy 56, Starkville Academy 39
FLOWOOD — The Starkville Academy girls were defeated 56-39 by Hartfield Academy in Saturday’s road game.
Lillee Alpe scored 12 points for the Volunteers.
Starkville Academy’s next game is Tuesday against Winston Academy.
Indianola Academy 47, Oak Hill Academy 44, Friday
WEST POINT — The Oak Hill Academy girls were edged 47-44 by Indianola Academy on Friday in West Point.
Mary Beth Briggs led the Raiders with 16 points. Sara Nash and Carley Wooten each scored 12.
Oak Hill’s next game is Thursday at home against Central Holmes Christian.
South Pontotoc 62, Caledonia 31, Friday
Prep Boys Basketball
Starkville 73, Brandon 67, 4 OT
BRANDON — It took four overtimes, but the Starkville boys beat Brandon 73-67 in quadruple overtime in Saturday’s road game.
Eric Green had 30 points for the Yellow Jackets.
New Hope 71, Corinth 56
BIGGERSVILLE — The New Hope boys beat Corinth 71-56 on Saturday at the BIGG Classic at Biggersville High School.
Caleb Parr led the Trojans with 20 points. Eric Caldwell had 19, LJ Hackman had 12, Ty Crowell had 10, and Jorden Edwards had nine.
New Hope 75, Amory 51, Friday
NEW HOPE — The Trojans also used a big first half to beat Amory 75-51 in Friday’s home game.
The Trojans led the Panthers 47-23 at the half en route to the big win.
Hackman led New Hope with 22 points. Parr had 14, Edwards had 12, and Carson Latham had nine.
Caledonia 45, South Pontotoc 43, Friday
CALEDONIA — Jarvis Leigh hit two free throws with 1.5 seconds to go, giving the Caledonia boys a 45-43 win over South Pontotoc at home Friday.
Leigh was the Cavaliers’ leading scorer with 20 points as Caledonia improved to 1-1 in district play.
The Cavs will play at Itawamba Agricultural on Tuesday in Fulton.
Oak Hill Academy 47, Indianola Academy 24, Friday
WEST POINT — The Oak Hill boys beat Indianola 47-24 in Friday’s home game.
Cameron Dill had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Raiders.
Starkville Academy 39, Hartfield Academy 38
FLOWOOD — The Starkville Academy boys came back to beat Hartfield Academy 39-38 on Saturday in Flowood.
The Vols rebounded from a 33-18 deficit to outscore the Hawks 21-5 in the fourth quarter.
Jawon Yarbrough had 13 points for Starkville Academy.
Prep Girls Soccer
Tupelo 3, Caledonia 0, Friday
Prep Boys Soccer
Starkville 4, South Panola 1, Friday
STARKVILLE — The Starkville boys soccer team beat South Panola 4-1 in Friday’s home match.
Dominique Bush had a hat trick for the Yellow Jackets, and Ethan Pulliam added a goal.
Starkville’s next match is Tuesday at Kosciusko.
Grenada 7, Columbus 0, Friday
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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