JACKSON – For the first time since 2018, Columbus is bringing back the golden ball.
Behind a big second quarter and the play of Tylan Brown, the Falcons got past Holmes County Central, 52-38, to claim the MHSAA Boys Class 5A state championship on Saturday night at the Mississippi Coliseum.
It’s Columbus’ (27-5) third state title in school history and ended the season on a 23-game winning streak.
“Just glad to get over the hump and the last couple years we felt like we had some teams that could get here and to actually get it done is a blessing,” said Columbus coach Philip Morris. “Just blessed to be in this position and blessed that my city trusted me to be able to run this program and take this program to the next level and bring back this championship.”
It was a back-and-forth first eight minutes, but Columbus held a slim 12-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was the difference as the Falcons outscored the Jaguars 19-2 to take a commanding 31-12 halftime lead.
Holmes County went on a 10-2 run to begin the third quarter to cut the Columbus lead down to 33-22, but the Falcons scored the final five points of the quarter to stretch the lead out to 38-22.
In the fourth quarter, every time the Jaguars cut into the Columbus lead, the Falcons had an answer. Mike Hood’s dunk late in the quarter sealed the game.
“With Tylan, it’s heart over height and he is the smallest guy on the court but he’s the toughest guy on the court and he got us going early,” Morris said. “Game started slow, but the plan was to keep them out of rhythm offensively and we did a good job scouting their sets and that’s something we did all year; blowing up people’s sets on defense and overall, we did a solid job.”
Brown finished with 17 points and eight rebounds to lead Columbus and was named the game’s most valuable player. D.J. Verdell added 15 points and Mike Hood chipped in 13 points for the Falcons.
“I just wanted to win but came in and did my job and played my part and got player of the game,” Brown said. “Every day we were working as a team and it’s crazy to be in this moment and I’m proud of myself.”
Lamarion Crawford scored a game-high 20 points to lead Holmes County (27-6).
“We wanted to slow them down and not turn the ball and not get them transition points,” said Holmes County Central coach De’Angelo Priar. “We knew what their guard was capable of and he had a great game tonight and other guys fed off him. It’s hard to get to this game two years in a row and it sucks to lose, but we will be back.”
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