CALEDONIA — Less than 10 seconds into the first game of the high school boys basketball season, West Point junior Jarion Cunningham stepped up to the 3-point arc and made a wide-open shot from deep, quieting the Caledonia home crowd.
For the Green Wave, it was downhill from there.
About two and a half minutes later, Caledonia converted a layup for a 6-5 lead. From that point on, the Confederates never trailed again.
They poured on the points throughout Saturday’s game, part of the Caledonia Tip Off Classic, and lapped West Point for a 76-37 win to open the season.
“Great way to start off,” Caledonia coach Gary Griffin said, “especially playing your first game in your own place.”
The crowd got behind the home squad early thanks to the 16-0 run that turned a 5-2 West Point lead into an 18-5 Caledonia advantage. Senior Cooper McCleskey had seven of the 16 points, finishing with 12 in the first quarter and 29 for the game.
“I felt like he played a pretty normal game,” Griffin said. “He didn’t do anything that I was shocked about given that it’s his senior year and I’ve had him for two years as a starter.”
The 6-5 guard/forward even threw down a right-handed dunk after a steal following his own missed free throw.
“It kinda just happened,” McCleskey said of the dunk. “I wasn’t expecting it.”
He’s stepped into a leadership role for the Feds, and he said it was about time.
“I’ve been waiting a long time to be the leader of this team, so it’s pretty cool,” McCleskey said.
Caledonia’s “second in command,” junior point guard Jarvis Leigh, provided some leadership — and 15 points.
“I give him a direction, and he leads the team from that standpoint,” Griffin said of Leigh, who he said has “taken the leap” in his third season with the team.
Both Griffin and McCleskey credited the play of Vonta Martin, who had 11 points for the ‘Feds. Caledonia isn’t a deep team — the ‘Feds’ bench was only about five deep compared to West Point’s seemingly boundless reserves — so McCleskey knows how important it is that his team’s stars step up.
“We lost a couple seniors, so it’s a good start, but we’re not where we want yet,” he said. “Especially when they’ve got so much depth and we don’t have much.”
But depth doesn’t matter much when size and talent can outmatch it. Caledonia proved that Saturday.
“I think we can do a lot,” McCleskey said. “I think we can surprise a lot of people.”
Columbus boys 85, Philadelphia 46
Columbus coach Phillip Morris was a little frustrated that Philadelphia remained steadfast in its 1-3-1 zone defense Friday.
Not because the Falcons couldn’t handle it. On the contrary — they solved the zone, got out in transition and left the Tornadoes in the dust. But because Morris wanted a chance to get the Falcons experience facing numerous different looks.
“I was hoping they were gonna run some different stuff on defense so we could work on some of our stuff that we’ve been working on,” Morris said.
Along with some standard early-season miscommunication, it might have been Columbus’ biggest worry in Saturday’s 85-46 win. And though Morris said Philadelphia’s roster is depleted with many of its players set to head into the MHSAA Class 2A football playoffs, that says something.
“It’s still a good look for us,” Morris said.
Eric Caldwell made four 3-pointers and led the Falcons with 20 points, and Gabe Williams scored 16.
“Eric definitely shot the ball well, and we’re gonna expect that from him all season,” Morris said.
But despite their success, the Falcons still saw areas where they needed to improve, particularly on defense.
“We need to get better in some spots, and I think they kind of helped us get better in some spots and stuff that we need to work on,” Caldwell said.
Williams stressed getting back on defense, saying that poor communication often led to multiple Falcons guarding the same Philadelphia player — and nobody covering another.
But the success of the Falcons’ transition offense masked their deficiencies throughout.
“We got out in transition so much,” Morris said. “Every time you can do that, it makes the game easy for you.”
If Columbus can sustain its success on the break, Caldwell said, it might provide them a recipe for beating big teams down the road. Or not so far down the road — the Falcons stuck around to watch rival Starkville take on Horn Lake, and the Yellow Jackets visit on Nov. 12.
Until then, Columbus will be happy with the statement it made in Saturday’s opener.
“We’re coming back with a strong win,” Williams said. “We’ve gotta keep working.”
Neshoba Central girls 54, West Point 36
Renaisha Carrothers scored eight points, and Alexis Bell and Rakaiya Williams each had six, but the West Point girls team lost to Neshoba Central 54-36.
The Green Wave’s next game is Saturday, Nov. 9, at Kosciusko in the Premier Medical Group Shootout.
Caledonia girls 39, Hamilton 33
Allison Pennington had 12 points, Tenizia Lathan had eight, and the Caledonia girls team beat Hamilton 39-33.
“I thought the effort overall was a good effort,” said Griffin, who coaches both the boys and girls teams for the ‘Feds. “It’s good for them to get a good start off at 1-0 as well.”
Shanti Kidd had seven points for the ‘Feds, and Libby McMurphey had six.
Caledonia’s next game is at 6 p.m. Friday at Aberdeen.
Starkville boys 76, Horn Lake 70
The Starkville boys basketball team beat Horn Lake 76-70 in the final contest of Saturday’s event.
No stats were available from the game.
The Yellow Jackets will play at Meridian at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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