STARKVILLE — Continuity has been a big piece of the puzzle this season for the Starkville Academy boys basketball team.
After biding their time for injuries to heal in the first few months, the Volunteers have come together in January and February to play some of their best basketball. Versatility and depth have been keys for a team that can rely on a number of players to carry the load on any given night.
Last week, Starkville Academy put that philosophy to the test at Leake Academy and came away with some hardware as a reward.
Reid Stevens had 16 points and six rebounds Saturday night to lead Starkville Academy to a 66-51 victory against Leake Academy in the championship game of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Class AAA, District 2 tournament in Madden.
The win helped Starkville Academy earn a No. 1 seed for the Class AAA regional tournament, which started Monday night. Starkville Academy (16-10) will play the winner of today’s game between Indianola Academy and St. Aloysius at 5:15 p.m. Thursday at Leake Academy. The top four teams from the regional tournament advance to the Overall Class AAA tournament at Kirk Academy.
Carter Roach had 14 points, five assists, and four steals, Codie Futral had 12 points, four rebounds, and four assists, and Noah Methvin had 10 points, four rebounds, and four steals.
“I think that has been a big key to our success lately is that we have had such good balance,” Allsup said. “We are getting contributions off the bench from the Richardson twins (Brady and Raegan). We are getting good, solid production from Carter Roach, Reid, Codie, and Noah Methvin has been big with some scoring down the stretch, as has Kyle Faver.”
Allsup said the move about three weeks ago to a bigger lineup has helped the team rebound. He said the Richardsons and Taylor Arnold have allowed the Volunteers to counter opponents’ size and physicality, which has enabled the team to come together to play some of its best basketball in the last few weeks.
Allsup said the players have grown comfortable in a system he has run for the last three years. He credits the players for being unselfish and being willing to share the basketball to further the team goals.
Those goals were put on hold at the beginning of the season as the team waited for Roach (wrist), Futral (back, ankle), and Methvin (collarbone) to get healthy. Allsup said the injuries “set the team way back,” but he said no one panicked. He said the team returned after Christmas and found the continuity on both ends of the floor to put it into position to make a run at a state title.
A year after “stubbing its toe” in the first round of the Class AAA North State tournament in 2016, Allsup feels the group is better prepared for what is to come.
“Since we have had our full squad, we are starting to play better and win some basketball games,” Allsup said. “I knew it would be a little bit slower start than what we normally would (because of so many of the boys playing football). We just had to hold on until we got healthy, and the other guys did a good job stepping up until we got some people back.
“Now, it is all about who is playing well at tournament time. We played really well against Leake the other night. Hopefully, we can take that effort and continue to build on it and maybe we can go on a run and do something special.
“I always tell the guys do something special. If you do something special and you play with effort and you play with a will to win, you have an opportunity. It is there for us, so we just have to take advantage of it.”
n In MAIS Class AAA North tournament action Monday night at Leake Academy, Sydney Passons had 20 points to lead the Starkville Academy girls basketball team to a 40-36 victory against Central Hinds Academy.
Starkville Academy (16-13) will play Kirk Academy at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
n In boys action, Dontae Gray had 25 points to lead Heritage Academy to a 64-56 victory against Central Hinds Academy.
Moak Griffin had 10 points and Josh Neal had eight for Heritage Academy (17-4), which will play St. Joseph Catholic School at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
