STARKVILLE — Just 6.4 seconds separated Heritage Academy boys basketball from clinching the No. 1 seed in district play, holding a four-point lead over Starkville Academy on Monday.

A game that saw two tying, buzzer-beating shots had reached double overtime, and up four, Patriots head coach Zach Allison was ready to wrap things up during his timeout talk.

“I want to go home and go to sleep,” Allison said during the timeout. “Let’s win a basketball game.”

Monday had been back and forth the entire way through, and even a four-point lead seemed surmountable, but a missed shot from the Volunteers secured a varsity sweep and a No. 1 seed as Heritage Academy won, 65-61.

“That’s a playoff atmosphere,” Allison said. “I think it comes down to grit. At the end of the day, these are two equal teams, and we just gutted it out. We know we’ll probably see them two more times down the road and we expect a battle each time.”

Like at the end of regulation and overtime, it looked like the Vols would find a way to tie things up, with guard Cy Hallberg getting open on the wing for a 3-point attempt.

Hallberg knocked down some clutch shots down the stretch for Starkville Academy (15-9, 8-2 district) and was the perfect player to have the ball in his hands, but out of nowhere came Pats forward Luke Fisher to block his attempt. Fisher recovered the loose ball and was promptly fouled.

Down the other way, Fisher knocked down one of two free throws to make it a two-possession game, hitting the game-winner from the line.

That one made free throw was his only points of the game, but the Pats (15-5, 9-1 district) had plenty of offensive reinforcement, led by freshman Xzavier Webber, who scored 24 points, including 13 of Heritage’s 22 first-half points. 

Ten of Webber’s 24 points came in the fourth quarter onward, most of those coming on great plays and finishes in the lane.

“It was fun,” Webber said. “We work on these situations in practice, playing late-game situations and stuff, so it paid off in how we played in double overtime.”

Jack Ketchum sent Monday’s game, which saw Heritage take a 36-29 lead into the fourth quarter, into overtime initially with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer after Fisher mistakenly called timeout with four seconds left. 

An open 3 on the wing by Collin Adair was negated by the timeout. Ketchum saved Heritage and brought life back into the Pats, who were outscored 19-12 in the quarter.

Starkville Academy, despite being down for much of the game to that point, clawed its way back into things as Wyatt Buice and Rett Keenum turned things on, scoring a combined 12 of the Vols’ 19 points in the quarter.

“A lot of those guys in that locker room have been in big games in the past two years,” Starkville Academy head coach Brian Merkel said. “It’s one of those things that I know we’ll respond in the right way … We’re a really resilient bunch, a veteran group. They’re never going to back down. They’re always going to fight, and that’s what they did tonight.”

Starkville Academy awaits its opponent for the postseason next week, while Heritage Academy has one game remaining against Oak Hill Academy at home at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Heritage Academy girls 36, Starkville Academy 24

Starkville Academy jumped out to a quick 6-0 start to begin Monday’s girls game against Heritage Academy, looking to flip the script early from earlier this month.

The Patriots looked out of sorts, trying to find a way to stop what the Volunteers were throwing at them, but they quickly found a breakthrough in transition.

A few fastbreak opportunities allowed shooters to get open on the wing as Heritage hit three straight 3-pointers, taking a 9-6 lead and gradually building it from there.

What looked to be a game that the Vols had under control took a 180 as the Pats went back to Columbus with a comfortable 36-24 win.

“It took us a while to figure out what defense they were in,” Heritage Academy head coach Miriam “Moe” Reed said. “I thought they kept us on our toes, but we were patient, got three good looks in transition and sped the game up, playing into our game.”

Senior Lucy Sharp hit the second 3-pointer in that sequence for the Pats (13-13, 5-5 district), knocking down another one in the second quarter as she finished with a game-high 12 points.

Heritage had great success from the perimeter, scoring half of its points from beyond the arc as the Pats hit six 3-pointers in the win.

“I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to drive in, but I knew I was going to try and shoot the 3 when I had an open shot,” Sharp said. “I knew that me and my teammates were going to work together to take the open shot and not force anything.”

While Heritage was having immense success offensively, for Starkville Academy (12-16, 4-6 district), it was anything but, especially in the second half.

It took the Vols nearly three minutes to even get their hands on the ball in the fourth quarter alone as Heritage was able to hold possession, only giving it up because of a five-second inbounding violation.

“That’s where we struggled,” Starkville Academy head coach Colleen Roberts said. “We had more shot attempts than they did, but we just didn’t shoot well from the floor tonight. It’s tough to win when you can’t put the ball in the hoop.”

Shooting will be something the Vols will be doing a lot of in practice this week in preparation for postseason play while Heritage Academy finishes up its regular season schedule at 5 p.m. Friday against Oak Hill Academy.

Other scores

Prep girls basketball

Columbus Christian Academy 64, Amory Christian Academy 19

STEENS — The Columbus Christian Academy girls had little trouble with Amory Christian Academy in a 64-19 romp at home Monday.

Faith Yeates had 21 points, Carrie Kinard had 10, and Cassie Carter and Kayla Mercer each had eight for the Rams (15-9, 3-4 district). Presley Andrews and Julia Ladd each added five points.

Starkville Christian 29, Hebron Christian 25

Prep boys basketball

Columbus Christian Academy 77, Amory Christian Academy 63

STEENS — The CCA boys handled Amory Christian Academy by a 77-63 score Monday in Steens.

Four Rams finished in double figures, led by Joe Michael Edwards with 22 points. Drake Shaw had 18, Caleb McCarter had 15, and Garrett Weathers had 12. Jackson Howard chipped in eight points.

CCA (17-7, 4-3 district) travels to face West Memphis Christian School (Arkansas) on Friday.

Starkville Christian 67, Hebron Christian 38