Columbus boys basketball head coach Phillip Morris said he had a feeling, a slight inkling that his Falcons’ state championship hopes would be put to the test against Holmes County Central – and his intuition was correct.
After shutting down Natchez 75-40 Thursday in the Class 5A semifinals, the Falcons are set to battle the Jaguars, another talented and deep squad, for the coveted crown at 8 p.m today in the Big House in Jackson. It’s the stage Columbus has been focused on all year as it ran roughshod over its foes. Morris said it’s an amazing feeling to play for the program’s first title since 2018.
“It’s great. I just feel blessed to be able to get an opportunity as a head coach,” Morris told The Dispatch. “I’ve been there twice as an assistant and it just feels a little bit different. Obviously, we’re doing it because we love it. We don’t get a lot of positive energy put toward our way, so for us to be able to do this is great.”
The Falcons’ high-powered duo of Michael Hood Jr. and Davie Verdell once again led the way for the team with 21 points and 16 points, respectively, against Natchez to gain entrance into today’s contest. Holmes defeated Caledonia (71-39), Pontotoc (51-46) and Wayne County (52-41) to advance to the championship game. The Jags, who are ranked as the No. 2 team in 5A, are a team Morris had his eyes on all season as fellow title contenders.
“It’s going to be a great matchup man,” he said. “It’s going to be an athlete-for-athlete type matchup, so it’s going to come down to execution and gameplanning; who can make adjustments and that type of game. … Athlete-for-athlete, we match up pretty well. I think this is one of the most athletic teams we probably have played all year. But we have some athletes as well, so I think we are OK from that standpoint. It’s going to come down to execution, making plays. Who is going to guard, who is going to defend, who is going to control the rebound battle? Those are the things that are going to decide it.”
Some of the damage the Falcons hope to inflict will come from the film room, where they don’t have much time to spend on such a short turnaround. But in previous games, watching and learning what teams like to do and then creating strategies to slow down their best players is a part of the reason why Columbus is on a 22-game win streak.
“We’ve already been watching some film on them for a little bit to make sure we get those tendencies of what they do,” Morris said. “(As) long as we do what we do on our side of the ball, taking care of the ball, rebounding and points in the paint, that will be big in the game.”
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