Starkville High girls basketball coach Kristie Williams continues to preach to her team the need to play for four quarters.
When the Lady Jackets learn that lesson, the victories may indeed pile up.
Starkville led for the majority of its opening-round contest at the Joe Horne Columbus Christmas Invitational Friday afternoon. Alas, Lawrence County reeled off a game-ending 12-5 run to steal a 66-65 victory.
“This is frustrating because we make mental errors down the stretch,” Williams said. “We had seniors making mistakes. Those are mistakes we don’t expect those players to make. The effort was there. It’s tough to lose another game like this.”
Starkville (6-5) dropped a one-point road decision at Canton Tuesday night. Friday afternoon, the Lady Jackets had the defending Class 4A state champions right where they wanted them — enjoying a double-digit lead in both halves before being unable to close the deal.
“You have to be able to close out,” Williams said. “You have to continue to fight. You can’t let down your guard. When you let down your guard, you allow the other team to make a run. We have to be able to finish the game. We can’t look at the scoreboard and let that determine how hard you play.
“If you don’t play for 32 minutes, you allow the other team to have a chance to win the game. Lawrence County played a like a defending state champion down the stretch.”
For Lawrence County (7-4), the victory was well-earned, if not much delayed. The Lady Cougars were 15 minutes late leaving Monticello. Due to persistent rains, the team’s travel took more than four hours. A couple of key players had to come separately due to class preparation for exams.
“It was a long trip up here,” Lawrence County senior guard Taylor Brister said. “The first half was horrible, at least the first quarter was. It took us a while to get going. But we were focused and ready to play. We knew we were coming here to play two really good teams.
“We had to play really well to make sure we got this win.”
Starkville started the contest extremely strong. The Lady Jackets were overpassing the play lanes and turning numerous steals into fast-break points. Starkville erased an early 4-3 deficit by scoring 10 straight points.
For the Lady Jackets, Brittany Brown scored 12 first-quarter points and the Lady Jackets led 19-8 after one quarter of play.
Brilliant passing by Brister allowed the Lady Cougars to move the ball inside better in the second quarter. The Lady Cougars scored on consecutive possessions to close within 23-17.
A putback by Brister, followed by a steal and fast-break layup brought the Lady Cougars within 2 points at 25-23. Starkville regrouped, finishing the second quarter strong for a 32-28 halftime lead.
“We had to play more as a team in the second half,” Lawrence County senior guard Mary Margaret McLaurin said. “We had to block out better and rebound better. Those were the keys to the victory. We pressured more in the second half and that gave us the turnovers we needed to get back in the game.”
The second-half rally would be slow developing for Lawrence County.
Playing its most consistent basketball of the afternoon, the Lady Jackets sprinted out to 47-38 on a 3-point basket by Jacqueline Fair. An old-fashioned 3-point play by Fair ran the advantage to 50-39 with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
“We did some really nice things that helped us get out to a big lead,” Williams said. “Then we made some mental mistakes. We have to learn how to not lose focus. When you have the lead, you have to play just as hard on every possession.”
A putback by Tiffany Henderson ran the Lady Jackets’ advantage to a game-best 13 points at 54-41 on the opening possession of the fourth quarter.
Lawrence County still trailed 58-49 with 5:45 left. The Lady Cougars then shifted to more full-court pressure and flipped the game around. Brittany McDuffey scored on back-to-back possessions to bring Lawrence County within 60-57.
After Kelsye Reed scored for Starkville, the Lady Cougars answered with a 3-point basket from McDuffey and game-tying layup by Brister with 1:27 left. The Lady Cougars had failed to tie earlier with two different misses in transition.
McDuffey placed her squad ahead for the first time since 4-3 at 64-62 on a baseline jumper with 45 seconds left. After Starkville missed two shots on the other end, Brister sealed the contest with two free throws. Starkville’s Fair hit a 3-point basket as time expired.
“I am really proud of the way we fought back to win,” Lawrence County coach Vicki Rutland said. “We did not start well. Despite the adversity, the girls kept their poise and kept believing that we would find a way.”
Lawrence County only has two regulars back from last season’s state championship squad. Rutland feels like her team will be okay once it finds its own identity this season.
“We definitely have a target since we won state last year,” McLaurin said. “A lot of people are doubting us because we don’t have a lot of players back from that team. We are out to prove everybody wrong. We want to be there at the end this year, too.”
Starkville received 20 points from Brown, with 18 of those coming in the first half. Henderson added 11 points, while Sheneka Townsel added 10 points.
Lawrence County received 23 points from Brister, 20 points from McDuffey and 17 points from McLaurin.
In today’s tournament play, the Starkville girls play New Albany at 1 p.m., while the Lawrence County girls play the host squad from Columbus at 5:20 p.m.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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