The Aberdeen High School boys basketball team has a new coach and a new philosophy for the 2014-15 season.

However, the goals remain the same for the tradition-rich program.

“We want a ring,” Aberdeen senior Trent Davis said. “The Aberdeen basketball program is built on state championships. It doesn’t matter if it is new players or new coaches, the primary goal remains the same. We want to be champions in the end.”

While the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 3A state tournament had to feel a long way off Thursday night, Aberdeen took great pride in making new coach Jaworski Rankin a winner in his debut, riding a stellar defensive effort in the fourth quarter to a 68-63 victory against New Hope at Trojan Gym.

“We have so many things to work on,” Rankin said. “However, this is great way to start the season. We were really great on the defensive end in the second half. We got some turnovers and opened the lead. This is a really great way to start because New Hope is going to be really good this year.”

Aberdeen led 54-52 with less than seven minutes remaining. The Bulldogs scored the next seven points. In the fourth quarter, Aberdeen forced seven New Hope turnovers.

“It is all about defensive intensity,” Aberdeen senior Marcus Carouthers said. “The coaches are on us about that all the time. If we can play with that type of intensity for four quarters, we can be pretty good. We got some turnovers, and that got some things going.”

The 3-point shooting of Demyis Mayberry and Jaylon Bardley kept the Trojans afloat. However, New Hope let an early 10-4 lead slip away and couldn’t build on a series of third-quarter one-point leads.

“The defense was really important,” Davis said. “That is how we won the game. We let them hit a couple of 3-pointers early, but we did a better job of defending that in the second half. Once we really locked into our men and played more aggressively on defense, that turned the game around.”

Carouthers led Aberdeen with 27 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

“Sometimes it comes too easy for Marcus,” Rankin said. “We have to slow down and focus on getting other guys into the offense. When we share the ball there in the second half, we had better offense. We know what Marcus is going to bring for us every night. The challenge there is to get more guys involved. We are working on that every day in practice.”

Davis added 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Derrell Carouthers had 12 points and six assists.

“The game plan is always to get me some shots early,” Marcus Carouthers said. “My job in the first quarter is to get off a good start. Once we get me going, that energizes the whole team. We had some other guys step up and look for their shot, too.”

Rankin inherited the Aberdeen program after a successful run at Grenada High. Last season, Rankin carried Grenada to the MHSAA Class 6A state tournament championship game.

“I feel really humbled and blessed to be here,” Rankin said. “At Grenada, we had to build that thing up. At Aberdeen, you are inheriting one of the great programs in the state. This is more about maintaining a program. I am really excited what we have in place for this year’s team.”

New Hope (1-2) received 19 points from Mayberry, 16 points from Terryonte Thomas, 12 points from Bardley, and 11 points from Darious Williams.

In the girls game, Aberdeen scored the final 10 points to win 51-41.

New Hope (1-2) played without leading scorer Lanoria Abrams, who suffered a concussion on the first possession. The Lady Trojans struggled on offense and trailed by 11 points entering the fourth quarter.

“In the fourth quarter, we had a great rally to get back in the game,” New Hope coach Laura Lee Holman said. “We did that with four freshmen on the floor for most of the quarter. I was really proud of how hard we played. We are having trouble taking the offense we run in practice and running it correctly in a game. We are young, so we are working on all of that. It’s a process.”

New Hope pulled even on a steal and layup by Jada Jamison with 1 minute, 45 seconds to play. Aberdeen answered with a putback from Rachel Boone and a steal and layup by Jakayla Dancy. Mahailya Dearing had two steals in the final 1:12. The Lady Bulldogs hit 6 of 7 free throws to seal the win.

Aberdeen received 12 points from Aundrea Robinson. Jamison led New Hope with 13 points, while Kennedi Stephens had 10.

n Starkville Academy sweeps Oak Hill Academy: At Starkville, Luke Templeton had a game-high 17 points and five rebounds Thursday night to lead three players in double figures in the Starkville Academy boys basketball team’s 58-46 victory against Oak Hill Academy.

Brandon Lane had 15 points, six rebounds, and two steals, and Ade Amusa added 13 points and five rebounds for the Volunteers. John McReynolds had six points, 12 rebounds, and three assists.

Drake Riley and Kaleb Darnell had 11 points and four rebounds, while Matthew Gwathney had six rebounds for the Raiders.

In the girls game, Bonner Hughes had 12 points and three assists to help the Lady Volunteers edge the Lady Raiders 47-45.

Maris Moorhead had 11 points and seven rebounds, and Anna McKell had 11 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals for Starkville Academy.

Sarah Dill had 23 points, 15 rebounds, and two steals for Oak Hill Academy. Tanner Grubbs added nine points and four rebounds, and Kaylee Jacobs had six points.

Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott

Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.