This was not a drill.
Sure, the Columbus High School boys basketball team sets up the situation often in practice: down by five points, in need of a comeback, two minutes on the clock. Often, junior Willie Young said, the team’s goal is not only to take the lead but to get ahead by as many as 10 or 15 points.
So when the Falcons found themselves in a similar position during Monday’s home game against West Point, they knew what needed to be done.
Tied with the Green Wave 7-7 late in the first quarter, the Falcons (9-6, 3-2 Region 2-5A) ripped off the next 12 points, held their opponents scoreless for more than five minutes and dominated the rest of the way in a 63-22 home win.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” Young said. “That’s a good win and a good start to see where we’re at.”
Columbus has won its past three games since an 0-2 start to district play, and the Falcons finally have some momentum heading into Friday’s game at New Hope. The Trojans took Round 1 by a score of 60-39 in the Falcons’ gym Jan. 15, but Columbus coach Phillip Morris said he expects his team to play with more aggression and conviction than three weeks prior.
“It should be a good chance for us to get better and try to get a win Friday going into the district tournament,” Morris said of the looming crosstown contest.
The Falcons will face Grenada in the first round of that tournament — which they will host — regardless of Friday’s result. Columbus will be the district’s No. 2 seed with a win over New Hope and the No. 3 seed with a loss, while the opposite holds true for the Chargers.
Morris and Young both said the Falcons have been playing well of late despite a young roster featuring plenty of freshmen and sophomores. A majority of Columbus’ players did double duty in the junior varsity and varsity contests, Morris said.
“That’s how we’re rolling right now, but I don’t mind,” he said. “We’re getting better for the time being and the future.”
West Point coach Gary Dixon is in a similar situation, playing multiple middle-schoolers big minutes Monday in the blowout loss. Once again, Dixon said, the Green Wave’s youth hurt: West Point failed to take advantage of getting the Falcons in foul trouble early on.
“We should have just locked in on that and continued with it, but that’s the mentality of being young,” Dixon said.
He lamented his team’s inability to extend its first-quarter success to the rest of Monday’s contest. West Point scored just five points to Columbus’ 14 in the second quarter and only two compared to the Falcons’ 28 in the third.
“We’re trying to get it for four quarters,” Dixon said. “We did it that first quarter; then we lost sight of what we were trying to do in the second. By the third, it was out of hand. If they’ll go ahead and keep their eye on the prize, we’ll be fine.”
Eighth-grader Tallie Webber was the Green Wave’s leading scorer. For Columbus, junior Tre Dismuke had 18 points, and Young had 13.
“‘If we’re going to win some games, y’all are going to have to lead us every night,'” Morris said he has told the pair of juniors.
“As long as they do that, we should be good,” he added.
Other scores
Prep Boys Basketball
Pickens Academy (Ala.) 49, Coosa Valley Academy (Ala.) 30
HARPERSVILLE, Ala. — The Pickens Academy (Alabama) boys beat Coosa Valley Academy (Alabama) 49-30 on Monday night to advance to the AISA elite eight in Montgomery.
Hayden Dyer led the Pirates (9-6) with 18 points, and Rafe Brown had 15.
Pickens will play Jackson Academy (Alabama) at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at the Cramton Bowl in the state quarterfinals.
Prep Boys Soccer
Lamar School 7, Heritage Academy 0
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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