DJ Jackson was in a hurry.
With five seconds left in the first quarter of Thursday’s MHSAA Class 5A, Region 2 tournament final, the Columbus High School senior point guard stood waiting as visiting New Hope inbounded from the frontcourt. The instant the Trojans turned the basketball over — barely two seconds later — Jackson took off down the floor. She caught a short pass on the right wing behind the 3-point line and launched a quick shot as the buzzer sounded.
The ball swished through the net, stretching the Falcons’ five-point lead to eight at a pivotal moment. New Hope never got within six points again in a 48-31 Columbus win to seal the district title.
“That lifted us up,” Columbus coach Yvonne Hairston said. “We needed that. … That was a really big basket by DJ.”
Jackson’s rush to get the crucial shot off ended up providing the Falcons some much-needed time off. Thursday’s game was Columbus’ fifth in the past eight days after returning from the team’s second COVID-19 quarantine of the season. The Falcons played Grenada, New Hope and West Point back to back to back last Thursday through Saturday before taking down the Green Wave in Tuesday’s district semifinal and beating New Hope on Thursday night.
“They were tired,” Hairston said. “But we got it done, so that’s all that matters: that we got it done.”
Now, Columbus will get more than a week off. The Falcons earned a first-round bye in the Class 5A playoffs when they clinched Region 2-5A’s No. 1 seed, and they will host a second-round game Feb. 19.
Hairston said her team will attend Friday’s 1-5A championship game between Lafayette and Saltillo at Lake Cormorant to scout a possible opponent. The loser of the contest between the Commodores and Tigers will take on Callaway in the first round Monday, with the winner of that contest traveling to face the Falcons four days later.
“We’re happy to have some time off,” Hairston said. “We need rest.”
New Hope will host either Cleveland Central or Canton on Monday in its own first-round contest. Trojans coach Nick Christy said his team can’t be “one-dimensional,” as it has tended to be this season.
“We’ve had some games where we scored a lot of points; we’ve had some games where defensively we played really well,” Christy said. “We’re going to need to be able to put both of those things together as we come into the playoffs.”
Columbus was able to do that well Thursday, combining scoring streaks and long stretches of excellent defensive effort. Jackson said the Falcons learned how best to defend the Trojans from last Friday’s 33-22 win at New Hope: key in on shooters Anna Prince and Reed McGlothin.
“We just kept being aggressive and knowing what they were going to do at all times,” Jackson said.
Jackson said she was devastated when the Trojans edged the Falcons by a single point in last year’s district title game at Grenada, and Thursday, she helped Columbus get some necessary revenge.
“They took it away from us last year,” Jackson said. “It just felt great to get it back again and just to get the win, keep advancing.”
Even despite earning the No. 2 seed with last year’s loss, the Falcons powered their way to the MHSAA Class 5A championship. Jackson has similar hopes for this season: another state title and an MVP trophy to go with it.
“My senior year, I want to finish strong,” she said. “I want to finish holding that gold ball up over my head.”
New Hope boys 62, Columbus 48
In the final seconds, LJ Hackman figured he might as well try it, just another dunk for good measure.
With no Columbus players in sight — Ethan Conner was the only Falcon that side of the halfcourt line — Hackman went straight to the rim and threw down a one-handed jam.
While New Hope needed no more points on the scoreboard, Hackman’s slam provided an exclamation point of sorts as the Trojans boys (19-2) repeated as district champions with a 62-48 win over the Falcons (10-8) on Thursday.
“It’s a big accomplishment for these guys, all the hard work they put in,” New Hope coach Drew McBrayer said. “Now you’ve got to turn your focus to the playoffs.”
The Trojans finished with an 8-0 district record, earned a first-round bye in the Class 5A playoffs and will have a home game in the second round Feb. 20. They’ll play the winner of Tuesday’s game between Provine and the loser of Friday’s 1-5A championship game between Center Hill and Lake Cormorant.
Columbus, meanwhile, will host either Neshoba Central or Canton on Tuesday. For the third time in three matchups this season, the Falcons hung with the Trojans but watched New Hope eventually pull away.
Columbus even got out to an early 10-2 lead before McBrayer called timeout halfway through the first quarter and rallied the troops.
“We’re fine,” he told his players. “We’ve been in this situation before. Just keep playing hard, and we’ll take care of it.”
Immediately, New Hope closed the gap. By the end of the quarter, the Trojans had posted an 8-0 run to tie the Falcons, 10-10.
New Hope senior Eric Caldwell said his team routinely practices pulling away in the second and fourth quarters of games, knowing opponents can’t run with the Trojans for a full 32 minutes.
“We train and condition so we’ll be able to knock teams out in the end when they get tired running up and down the floor,” Caldwell said.
That strategy worked well as New Hope carried its first-quarter momentum into the half, closing the second quarter out strong. Hackman capped the period with a steal, a dunk and a chest-bump with teammate Jorden Edwards as the Trojans led 25-19 at the break.
In the third quarter, New Hope’s shots finally started falling. The Trojans reeled off a 13-0 run to stretch their lead to 20 points, and Columbus never got within 10 as it tried to mount a late comeback.
New Hope claimed its fourth district championship in the past five years as Caldwell, who transferred from Columbus after last season, celebrated on his former home court.
“I really felt like I had a point to prove, and I felt like I got it done,” he said.
Caldwell said New Hope has a large poster bearing its current record — now 19-2 — in its home locker room, something the Trojans can feel a sense of accomplishment in each time they see it.
However, McBrayer stressed, New Hope isn’t done just yet.
“It’s just one goal along the way,” the coach said.
Other scores
MHSAA Class 6A, Region 3 tournament — at Germantown
Germantown girls 58, Starkville 46
The Starkville High School girls lost Thursday’s Class 6A, Region 3 final to host Germantown High School in Madison 58-46.
The Yellow Jackets will host a first-round playoff game Monday.
MHSAA Class 3A, Region 4 tournament — at Hatley
Noxubee County girls 65, Hatley 47
The Noxubee County girls picked up a 65-47 win over host Hatley High School in Thursday’s Region 4-3A semifinal.
Na’Kaiyla “Tootie” Lockett had 18 points, eight rebounds, five steals and a block to lead the Tigers. Jakeia Walker had 12 points, five steals and two rebounds, and Aaliyah Brandy had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Shadiamin Wilkerson added eight points for Noxubee County. Jamiya Dancy had six points, and Zacaree Rupert had five.
The Tigers will face Houston in the girls championship at 6 p.m. Friday.
Noxubee County boys 58, Aberdeen 50, OT
The Tigers’ boys team got a 58-50 overtime win over Aberdeen in Thursday’s 4-3A semifinal.
Noxubee County will take on Houston at 8 p.m. Friday in the boys championship game.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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