STARKVILLE — On paper, Regents of Oxford, the No. 2 seed out of Class 2A, should not have been much of a match for Starkville Academy’s boys basketball team.
Games are not played on paper, but this one turned out pretty much the way it figured to go as the Volunteers took care of business.
Jarius Jordan scored 22 points, the Vols outscored their guests 22-5 during the first quarter, and Starkville Academy, the No. 2 seed out of Class 5A, rolled to a 78-39 romp over Regents on Wednesday night in the MAIS Tournament.
Starkville Academy coach Andrew Howell said his team looked at Regents as they would any other opponent.
“Nothing different,” said Howell, whose team will face Greenville Christian, an 82-61 winner over Hillcrest Christian, in Saturday’s quarterfinals. “Our guys know what the goal is, and that’s to win an overall state championship. This was just somebody in our way.
“We’re taking care of what we do, and we’re not too concerned with anybody else.”
Starkville Academy showed its balance from the start, as juniors Cy Hallberg and Jackson Redmond each scored six points and seniors Reese Jackson and Jordan each scored five points to account for those 22 first-quarter points.
But the Vols were balanced in another way: they scored in just about every way possible. They connected on long outlet passes for easy baskets, they hit 3-pointers (10 of them), they scored on putbacks, they scored on sweet moves in the paint, and they scored off of alert defense in the backcourt.
In short, the Lions simply had no answers for the Vols’ versatility.
“That’s why we are where we are,” Howell said. “We played a tough schedule, and we’ve had to find different ways to win. These guys have found so many different ways that it’s nothing new to them.
“If we need to win defensively, if we need to win shooting 3s, beating somebody inside, these guys have been able to adjust and adapt to whatever they’ve needed to do. The one thing that’s been consistent is they’ve been able to guard.”
That was evident Wednesday night. Despite being overmatched, Regents did have a couple of players who could hit the outside shot, they just couldn’t get many open looks. The Lions scored in single digits in three of the four quarters, and the Volunteers shut them down despite committing just five fouls during the game. And they played with respect for their opponent.
“That’s a really well-coached team,” Howell said of the Lions. “They play really hard, we knew they were going to be scrappy, and they made some good shots.
“We did a good job of scoring on offense, getting that lead up there and getting enough stops to keep it up. I’m proud of our guys.”
The lead hit 30 with 4:40 to go in the third quarter, and Howell substituted liberally throughout the game. He officially called off the dogs less than a minute later with the lead at 60-28 when he sent in three reserves at once.
Playing reserves usually means fan favorites seeing time on the floor, and Wednesday night was no exception. The loudest cheer of the night came when Joe Barrett nailed a 3-pointer to make it 75-37 at the 3:38 mark of the fourth quarter, well after the running clock kicked in.
Jackson finished with 13 points, while Hallberg totaled 11 for Starkville Academy, which is seeking to claim the overall title after coming up short in the 5A championship game against Simpson Academy, the same team they defeated to win the region tournament.
The teams could meet again in the title game; the Cougars are in the other half of the bracket and opened the tournament with a 93-35 rout of Porter’s Chapel on Wednesday night.
“Obviously you want to win that state championship, and we came up short, but our main goal is still ahead of us, an overall state championship,” Howell said. “And we’re right there.”
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