For the second straight season, the Columbus High School girls basketball team expects to know from the outset what this year has in store.
Last year, Falcons coach said her team could go either 0-4 or 4-0 in its difficult first four games. Ultimately, Columbus went 2-2. Then it lost only twice all year after that en route to the first Class 5A title in school history.
But with four key seniors, including star Aniya Saddler, gone, Hairston will again have to rely on how the Falcons fare early on to see what this season could hold for them.
“We’re going to find out really early if we’re going to be competitive or not,” the coach said.
Columbus’ first four games will certainly test that. The Falcons open against Northeast Lauderdale on Saturday at the Choctaw Classic in Philadelphia, go on the road to face Center Hill the following Saturday and return to host Pontotoc and Louisville the following week. That’s not an easy opening slate.
“I like playing stiffer competition,” Hairston said. “It just makes us better once we go into district play.”
The Falcons proved that last year, winning every district game they played until a surprising one-point loss to New Hope in the district championship. They won out from there.
But this year, things will be different, as it’s no longer “the Aniya Saddler show” in Columbus, Hairston said. The dynamic scorer and playmaker is in Perkinston now, playing for Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Somebody else will have to step up.
That could be DJ Jackson. As a junior last year, she ran the show at point guard. Now, her responsibilities have become elevated far beyond just that.
“This year, DJ’s going to have to go from facilitating to also being a scorer and a shooter,” Hairston said. “She’s got to be all around this year.”
Jackson said she’s ready to do that for the Falcons. She showed glimpses of shooting the deep ball last season, particularly in the playoffs, and expects to handle the pressure as the only senior in the team’s starting lineup.
After all, it wasn’t just Saddler leading the way last year — Nitirah Barry brought defense, Bri Smith brought post scoring and rebounding, and Sercora Tate contributed all around.
“They came out with a lot of aggression,” Jackson said of the four seniors. “They played really big.”
This year’s Falcons hope their young starting lineup — Jackson, sophomore Shania Givens and juniors Makayla Rieves, Charity Yeates and China Stewart — can match that production. Givens, whose role expanded as the season went on and who played a significant part in the Falcons’ postseason run, is being groomed to fill the team’s No. 1 role in a year or two.
“She’s got potential,” Jackson said. “I know she’s going to get buckets.”
Hairston said Yeates is a skilled post player, Stewart could turn heads already, and Rieves — known to the team as “Slim” thanks to her slender frame — should contribute significantly as well.
“We’re expecting her to do some great things for us, too,” Hairston said.
The Falcons bring juniors Myra King and Fredija Clark and senior Zaria Heard, among others, off the bench. Junior Mashanti Saddler — Aniya Saddler’s younger sister — will play a role once she recovers from a knee injury suffered in the playoffs.
Hairston said the Falcons’ depth was tested by the school’s COVID-19 policies: Any students participating in wholly virtual learning aren’t eligible to play sports. Four Columbus players fall into that category, and Hairston hopes to have them back for the second semester in January but is unsure.
The pandemic has had other effects on the Falcons, too. Starting in mid-July, they haven’t had as much time to practice as usual, and the guidelines for using equipment are stringent.
But Columbus wants to play — especially for Jackson, who was receiving Division I recruiting interest last season. Without summer camps and with ongoing dead periods, it’s been hard for coaches to see Jackson and other players in action.
“We want to make sure that she’s able to get out there and that coaches will be able to see her,” Hairston said.
So far, Columbus has tried its hardest to ensure that. Rieves said the Falcons have made sure to wash their hands before and after each practice and stay cautious to avoid delays or cancellations of their season.
“We’ve just got to work hard and stay focused,” she said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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