NEW HOPE — Yvonne Hairston was disappointed but not deterred when her Columbus High School girls basketball team lost two weeks ago at home to rival New Hope.
“I think by the time we get to see them again, we’ll kind of figure it out,” Hairston predicted.
Consider something figured out.
The Falcons solved the Trojans on Friday night in their rivals’ home gym, although it wasn’t easy. Columbus (3-12, 2-2 MHSAA Class 5A, Region 1) hung on for a hard-fought 41-38 win over New Hope (8-9, 3-1 Region 1-5A) to stay in the race for the district’s No. 1 seed.
“That one was big for our seeding purposes, so hopefully we can continue to win and continue to play big,” Hairston said.
The Falcons survived after Dariyah Webb missed the second of two free throws and New Hope got a final chance with 7.8 seconds left, trailing by three.
But Trojans freshman Tyrianna Frison unwittingly cut off a pass headed for Madyson McBrayer in the corner, preventing New Hope from getting off a tying shot.
Frison attempted to draw a foul on a short jumper in the closing seconds but missed as time expired.
New Hope coach Nick Christy was far from upset with his young player, saying he himself was as much to blame: Frison isn’t used to running the last-second offensive set New Hope employed to spring McBrayer for a potential equalizer in practice.
“She got it and tried to make a play, and if she could have hit it and gotten fouled…” Christy said of Frison. “She was just trying to make a play. That’s all you can ask kids to do.”
Frison in fact made a number of great plays as the Trojans quickly wiped out a 10-point deficit late in the game. After a Christina Fulton flurry put Columbus ahead 27-17, New Hope scored the next 12 points before things got away. Included in the run were two steals and layups by Frison as well as a pair of free throws that put the Trojans in the lead.
But their advantage was brief. Columbus senior post player Kiara Rieves scored five straight points in the fourth quarter, and Webb nailed a 3-pointer in the corner to put the Falcons up by five.
New Hope’s Logan Warren tied the game at the line, only for Columbus’ Jakiya Lewis to make a pair of free throws to break the deadlock. The Trojans missed two last-minute looks at the rim, one by Jada Jefferson and the other by Lailah Henderson, before being forced to foul Webb. The junior made her first free throw to make it a three-point game.
Webb and Fulton, both juniors, combined for 19 points for a much different Falcons team than the one that took its home court against the Trojans two weeks ago.
“I just see the future, and it looks pretty bright,” Hairston said. “They started listening. They started hustling. And I think they just started believing and having confidence in themselves.”
New Hope, perhaps an even younger team than Columbus, still leads Region 1-5A with a 3-1 mark.
But with Friday’s performance, the Trojans missed out on a chance to put the Falcons out of contention for the top seed.
“I thought that effort was there in the first few quarters, but the execution wasn’t,” Christy said. “That’s what we really lacked. We weren’t executing. There were plays to be made; we didn’t make them.”
On Friday, Columbus did, and it’s why the Falcons went home with a crucial road win ahead of a home date with Saltillo on Tuesday.
“This game was very important,” Rieves said. “New Hope is our big rival, and I’m just happy we won.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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