NEW HOPE — In a game that was dominated by whistles, Senavion Roby dominated just long enough on Thursday for Starkville High School.
The Yellow Jackets senior scored 10 of his team-high 20 points during the first 4 minutes of the fourth quarter as Starkville turned a 4-point lead into a 15-point cushion on the way to an 80-68 win over New Hope in the finale of the Trojan Holiday Classic at New Hope High School.
Roby started the game but scored just 2 points during the first quarter and didn’t play during the second, and he knew he would be needed after halftime as the Trojans led 38-36 at the break.
“I told myself in the locker room that I’ve got to come out and put my team on my back,” Roby said.
Starkville coach Woodie Howard wasn’t sure just what it was that got into Roby.
“I don’t know, but whatever it is I hope it stays,” Howard said. “He led us in that little stretch, and we rolled with it.”
Indeed they did. Roby’s first points of the quarter gave the Yellow Jackets a 60-54 lead, and the final points of his 4-minute outburst put them up 72-57.
And Roby contributed in different ways. After a pretty one-hander on a drive to open the fourth-quarter scoring, Trey Petty found Roby on a fast break for an easy layup. Next came a great move in the lane for a basket, and that was followed by a putback off a missed layup on yet another fast break. Two more drives capped his explosive fourth quarter.
“I try to play hard every game I can, do my best for the team,” Roby said.
Playing hard was not an issue for either team, but neither could get into a rhythm because of the whistles. The game featured 70 free throws, with three players fouling out and five finishing with four fouls.
“They came out, and the refs took over the game from the jump, calling tick-tack fouls, touch fouls, so it turned into a free throw shooting game,” Howard said. “It just got out of hand early and slowed the tempo down, but I like the way we were able to fight through all that and come out with a win.”
A foul-plagued game tends to favor the team with more depth, and the Jackets had nine players in the scoring column to seven for the Trojans.
“There were so many whistles, it’s so hard to get any rhythm, and we’re just not deep enough to be able to play with a 6A school like that when I’ve got four guys sitting over here on the bench with four fouls midway through the third quarter,” New Hope coach Drew McBrayer said.
Three Trojans — Caleb Parr, Ty Crowell and Issace Grady — picked up their third foul during the first 1:33 of the third quarter. Grady’s fourth came barely a minute later, and Carson Latham — who had three at halftime — and Crowell picked up their fourth fouls 2 seconds apart less than 2 minutes later.
The Jackets outscored the Trojans 10-5 over the last 3 minutes of the third quarter to take a 58-54 lead into the fourth, setting the stage for Roby.
The points came quickly for both teams early, although many came from the line. Fueled by LJ Hackman’s 10 points, the Trojans seized an 18-8 lead with 2:37 to go in the opening quarter. But a very balanced Starkville team chipped away, pulling within three by the end of the quarter and tying the game at 23-23 on a 3-point shot from Kylan Baggett 10 seconds into the second.
The second quarter was more of the same: New Hope took a 7-point lead twice, and Starkville chipped away and trailed by two at the half. The third, on the other hand, was a back-and-forth affair that featured six lead changes before the Yellow Jackets went ahead to stay at 51-49 on a 3-pointer by Connor Rogers with 2:47 left in the quarter.
“We started slow, but we picked it up very much on the defensive end,” Roby said. “We’ve shown that once we get down or have things go against us, we have a little fight. I would like for us to start the game that way and finish it that way.
“The main thing is that when they shot, we were able to rebound. That stopped them from getting second-chance points.”
“We got a bunch of young kids,” McBrayer said. “They’re going to be really talented, they’re just not ready yet, especially to play at that level.
I thought we made some mistakes tonight, but it was definitely a game we can learn from and come back to division play ready to go.”
Hackman led all scorers with 28 points for the Trojans, with Parr netting 19. Jonathan Baker (15), Makhi Myles (13) and Rogers (12) joined Roby in double figures for the Yellow Jackets.
Girls basketball
Hernando 50, Starkville 34: Je’Niecia Hill scored 15 points and Kendel Thompson added 11, but the Tigers gradually pulled away to beat the Yellow Jackets in the Trojan Holiday Classic at New Hope High School.\
Hernando took a 12-6 lead after the first quarter and maintained that 6-point lead at halftime. But Damyia Cummings scored 13 of her game-high 16 points during the second half for Hernando, which led 35-24 after three quarters. Hill supplied almost all of the Starkville offense during the third quarter, netting 9 points and shooting 7 of 10 from the line.
A three-point play by Abbey Harrison gave the Tigers their biggest lead at 42-24 with 5:44 remaining.
Starkville dropped its fourth consecutive game and fell to 6-6.
Canton 40, New Hope 33: Madyson McBrayer hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the corner to give the Trojans a 25-24 lead 3 minutes into the third quarter, but the Tigers responded with a 7-2 run and never trailed again in the Trojan Holiday Classic.
McBrayer led New Hope (4-6) with 9 points, with Lailah Henderson scoring 7 and Taylor Brownlee and Jada Jefferson adding 6 apiece.
Alex Washington led all scorers with 15 points for Canton (13-3), while Ashante Fleming scored 10.
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