LOUISVILLE — Friday’s boys basketball game between Noxubee County and Louisville high schools featured more free throw attempts in the fourth quarter than total points in all of the first half.
That statistic alone was an indicator of how the 2022-23 season opener — a 45-37 win for the host Wildcats — went for the visiting Tigers (0-1).
“I think we played OK, but we fouled a whole lot,” Noxubee County coach Danny Crawford said. “We fouled a lot. That was out of the norm for us.”
After practicing with four players for months, Crawford got most of his roster back after the Tigers football team ended its season with a loss to Raleigh in the state championship game.
The rust showed.
Noxubee County scored 15 fewer points on the basketball court Friday than it did a week prior on the football field in Hattiesburg.
The Tigers are still without leading scorer Anthony Little Jr., who will join the basketball team after playing in next weekend’s North/South football all-star game. Crawford acknowledged the rest of his roster has practically never played meaningful varsity minutes.
“I get what I get, and I’m OK with that,” he said.
Crawford got a strong effort from the Tigers in their first game, and for three quarters, it showed on the scoreboard. Despite scoring just 13 points in the first half, Noxubee County held Louisville to a mere 15; the Tigers trailed by just one point heading into the fourth quarter in a back-and-forth game.
Then the whistles began to blow nonstop, sending the game into a crawl.
Louisville scored 12 of its 16 fourth-quarter points at the charity stripe, getting into the double bonus for the half early in the final period. The Wildcats practically lived at the line for the rest of the game.
“It’s extremely hard because you’re putting the other team in the bonus and they’re shooting free shots,” Crawford said. “But at the same time, Louisville didn’t shoot a great percentage from the free throw line.”
The Wildcats made only 50 percent of their free throws in the period, opening the door from the Tigers.
Sophomore KaMario Taylor — the quarterback of the football team and the primary orchestrator for the basketball squad as well — made a layup to give Noxubee County a one-point lead with 4:35 to play.
But after Louisville split a pair of free throws to tie the game, a three-point play from Cameron Ingram gave the Wildcats the lead for good.
Louisville continued to get to the line, while Noxubee County turned it over on four straight possessions down the stretch.
On their final trip down the court, the Tigers were fouled. They missed both free throws.
It was a fitting way for Friday’s game to end.
Still, Crawford attributed much of his team’s struggles — and its penchant for fouling — to its being out of game shape for now.
As the season goes on, he hopes that will change.
“When the conditioning sets in, we’re going to be a good basketball team,” Crawford said.
Louisville girls 69, Noxubee County 43
In Friday’s girls game, Noxubee County senior Sha’Diamin Wilkerson buried a 3-pointer on the Tigers’ first possession.
Senior Jakeia Walker added four more points to stake the visitors to a 7-1 lead over Louisville.
“If we continue to play like that the whole game, we win the game — easily,” Noxubee County coach Micheal Johnson said.
But the Tigers couldn’t sustain it.
Louisville claimed the lead for good on a pair of first-quarter free throws by senior Jacylin Houston, and the Wildcats dominated from there in a 69-43 win over the Tigers (2-1).
“We were just kind of out of whack,” Johnson said. “It’s still early in the season.”
Noxubee County struggled to run effective offense without junior guard Tootie Lockett, who Johnson said will return next week from a minor injury.
Johnson said Lockett’s absence allowed Louisville to put more pressure on Walker and thus suffocate the Tigers’ scoring attack.
“I think a lot of girls had to do things that they’re not accustomed to doing,” he said.
Without Lockett in the mix, Noxubee County turned the contest into a track meet, attempting to score in transition on every possession rather than run plays.
It worked for a few minutes, but Louisville proved the superior team before long.
The Wildcats built a 32-19 lead by the halftime buzzer and continued to build on it throughout the second half.
They dealt the Tigers their first loss of the season, but Johnson said Noxubee County can learn more from it than from early-season wins over Choctaw County and Kosciusko.
“I like taking an ‘L’ every now and then,” he said. “You’d like to win all your games, but sometimes the ‘L’ is good for you.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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