JACKSON — Starkville girls basketball won a defensive slugfest in Jackson on Monday, rallying to beat Biloxi, 23-16, after trailing 11-1 in the first quarter.
It took some effort to turn the game around, but the Jackets had the stomach for a gritty game and held Biloxi to just five points over the remaining three quarters.
“I know how badly my team wanted this game, how bad they want to go to state, so I didn’t expect anything less from them coming into this game,” Jackets forward Zariyah Edwards said. “We knew what type of team Biloxi was, but we know what team we are and we knew we could get it done if we played our game.”
The Yellow Jackets struggled to get to the paint in the first half, scoring just eight points with Zariyah Edwards held in check. Jada Gay made a crucial impact on the offensive end, scoring five of the eight first-half points, and adding another layup coming out of the break.
The game was just 14-12 heading into the fourth quarter, with the Jackets holding Biloxi scoreless in the third but still trailing by two, managing just two points themselves.
Jackets head coach Matt Willbanks told his team that “the first one to 30” would win it, but even he underestimated his team’s defensive dominance in a tight game.
“That’s huge, and if you look back in the past at state champions, defense is going to win it,” Willbanks said. “That’s the old saying, ‘Defense wins championships,’ but it’s so true, especially in high school girls basketball. If you can get a group to buy in, no matter what kind of defense it is, or just playing hard and physical, it can help you when you struggle offensively.”
Starkville eventually took the lead and started to pull away. Edwards got a pair of shots to fall, including an and-one layup, and Zariah Brown and Logan Warren both hit big shots from beyond the arc to boost the buffer between the sides.
“When we were down, in the back of my head I was like, ‘Dang, what if?’” Edwards said. “But the type of team that I have, they’re not giving up because we’re down. I felt like we had it when Logan hit her three in the fourth. When she hit it, I was like, ‘Yeah, Starkville, we ready now, there ain’t no stopping us.’”
The semifinal win puts the Jackets at 25-6 this season. The team is on an 18-1 run since December after a 7-5 start to the year. There was an adjustment period with the new coaching staff coming in, but the team was working toward playing their best basketball when it mattered most. It helped guide the team from hopefuls to district champions, and now they’re on the cusp of a state title.
“When Coach Willbanks first got here, he always told us in January everything has to click,” Edwards said. “That’s what happened, we started playing as one. It wasn’t five people on the court, it was like one big machine almost. That’s what helped us get to where we are now.”
The Jackets will return to Jackson to play rivals Tupelo in the championship game at 6 p.m. Thursday. It’s a rival they’ve beaten twice this season, but also the only team to beat the Jackets since mid-December. Edwards is expecting another tough rivalry matchup with everything on the line.
“That’s our rivals, I can’t wait til we get there,” she said. “We beat them last time, but with them and us it’s always a game. You don’t know what’s going to happen. To be able to say I won a state championship in my senior year, the most important year, will mean everything to me.”
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