NEW HOPE — Just shy of the baseline, LJ Hackman caught his breath, waiting for a chance that never came.
The New Hope sophomore was the sole Trojan player not on the block for two free throws that could put visiting Center Hill up two possessions in the final seconds of Thursday’s MHSAA Class 5A second-round playoff game. At the far end of the court, Hackman grimaced, briefly doubled over and squinted at the scoreboard bearing the bad news: Mustangs 67, Trojans 65, 5.5 seconds to go.
From 25 yards away, Hackman watched Center Hill’s Kaeden Laws make the first free throw. Laws’ second attempt clanked off the rim and landed snugly in the arms of Mustangs teammate Zandon Haralson, who was fouled with 3.3 seconds left and made his first foul shot. New Hope rebounded a miss on the second, and a futile three-quarter-court heave from the Trojans’ Jorden Edwards at the buzzer glanced off the side of the rim.
Once again, a standout year for New Hope had come to an end.
In a tightly contested second-round game, the Trojans (19-3) were eliminated with Thursday’s 69-65 loss to the Mustangs.
“It was a good season,” New Hope coach Drew McBrayer said. “I hate it had to end this way.”
For the second straight year, McBrayer’s team went undefeated in district play and earned a first-round bye but lost its first playoff contest. The Trojans lost to Holmes County Central 55-50 last Feb. 22 but faced a much tougher test this time around in Center Hill.
Laws, a 6-foot-4 Arkansas-Pine Bluff signee, and the 6-foot-5 Haralson were part of a Mustangs team that gave the undersized Trojans fits inside. Laws led all scorers with 25 points, including the winning runner with 54 seconds left, and Haralson added 19 points.
“We just used our size and overwhelmed them,” Laws said.
But the Trojans, known for their speed and shooting ability, held their own. While Center Hill held a slim lead for most of the game, New Hope broke through in the fourth quarter. Edwards nailed a floater to put his team ahead 56-55 with 3:43 left, giving the Trojans their first lead since the second quarter.
“We missed some shots in the first half, but man, we played great in the second half on offense,” McBrayer said. “We did a good job of moving the basketball against their press, attacking the rim.”
New Hope, which shoots 71 percent from the foul line, struggled at the stripe when it counted Thursday night. Caleb Parr missed one of two technical free throws in the third quarter, Hackman missed three foul shots in the quarter and — most importantly — Edwards missed his first of two free throws with 18.1 seconds to go and New Hope down three.
“You’ve got to be able to make those plays when you’re in the playoffs,” McBrayer said. “We just missed a few of them.”
At the other end, the Mustangs made the requisite plays. After Laws worked free in the lane for his go-ahead shot with under a minute to go, Center Hill grabbed an errant pass from Edwards and forced the Trojans to foul. Tanner Burcham made both of his free throws to give the visitors a three-point lead.
Edwards drove to the rim and was fouled with 18.1 to go, but his miss only got the Trojans within two points. When Haralson corralled Laws’ misfire and was himself fouled, it was over.
“They’re a tough ballclub,” McBrayer said of the Mustangs. “We knew that coming in, and we knew it was going to be a dogfight. It was probably going to come down to a couple possessions late in the ballgame, and they just made one more play than we did. It’s tough when you fight that hard and you get to that situation and it’s just one play that beats you. They made it. We didn’t. Hats off to them.”
Instead of moving on to the third round at Holmes, McBrayer and the Trojans were left wondering what could have been. New Hope didn’t initially expect to draw the Mustangs on Thursday, but an upset loss to Lake Cormorant gave Center Hill a No. 2 seed and a game against Provine instead of a first-round bye.
So before the game, McBrayer and Mustangs coach Newton Mealer met near midcourt with a realization: “We weren’t supposed to be here together.”
They knew what it meant, too: When the final buzzer sounded, one of the two schools would be done for the season.
“We knew a good team was going home tonight,” McBrayer said. “I just hate it was us.”
Other scores
Prep Boys Basketball
Lake Cormorant 54, Columbus 47, MHSAA Class 5A playoffs, second round
LAKE CORMORANT — The Columbus boys were eliminated with a 54-47 loss at Lake Cormorant on Thursday.
Willie Young led the Falcons with 20 points, and Tre Dismuke had 12.
Columbus finished the season with an 11-9 record.
Starkville 64, Madison Central 37, MHSAA Class 6A playoffs, second round
STARKVILLE — The Starkville boys earned a trip to the MHSAA Class 6A quarterfinals with a 64-37 home win over Madison Central on Thursday.
Jarmarvious Phillips led the Yellow Jackets with 22 points. Coltie Young added 18 for Starkville.
The Jackets will host Olive Branch in Saturday’s quarterfinal round.
Noxubee County 53, Winona 46, MHSAA Class 3A playoffs, second round
WINONA — The Noxubee County boys won at Winona on Thursday, 53-46, to reach the MHSAA Class 3A quarterfinals.
The Tigers will take on Senatobia on the road Saturday.
Prep Softball
Caledonia 25, Starkville 0, two innings
STARKVILLE — It took just two innings for the Caledonia softball team to hand Starkville a 25-0 loss on Thursday.
The Cavaliers scored 12 runs in the first inning and 13 runs in the second for the mercy-rule win.
Brooke Knoop had five RBIs for Caledonia. Madalyn Dvorak had four, and Kaydence Sudduth had three; both players had home runs Thursday. Aimee George had a single, a double and three RBIs.
Jada Glasgow led the Cavs with four hits, including two doubles. Allison Pennington had two singles and a double, and Knoop had a single and a double.
Ashlyn Jordan had five strikeouts for Caledonia in two innings in the circle.
Brianne Locke had three strikeouts in 1.1 innings for Starkville, and Olivia Mattison had a strikeout in 0.2 innings for the Yellow Jackets.
Caledonia will play Friday at Smithville.
East Webster 8, New Hope 4
NEW HOPE — East Webster scored five runs in the sixth inning to beat New Hope 8-4 on Thursday in New Hope.
Zoe Goodman led the Trojans with two RBIs.
Adi Dueitt pitched 5.1 innings for New Hope, striking out two. Kensley Woolbright pitched the other 1.2 innings.
East Webster’s Liz Massey struck out 11 Trojans in a complete-game outing.
New Hope will play Monday at Saltillo.
Tishomingo County 15, West Point 0, three innings
IUKA — West Point suffered a 15-0 loss to Tishomingo County on the run rule Thursday in Iuka.
The Braves scored eight runs in the first inning, two in the second and three in the fifth to cut the contest short.
Sara Frances Ramsey had one strikeout in two innings pitched for the Green Wave.
West Point will host Starkville on Friday.
Nanih Waiya 14, Columbus 2
Patrician Academy (Ala.) 19, Pickens Academy (Ala.) 4
Prep Baseball
Heritage Academy 7, Nettleton 2
Cole Ketchum struck out 13 hitters in a complete-game win for the Heritage Academy baseball team on Thursday against Nettleton.
Ketchum pitched all seven innings, allowing two runs on two hits. He did not walk a batter.
The Ole Miss commit also led the team with three RBIs in the 7-2 victory. He and Caleb Hall led the Patriots with two hits apiece, with Carson Hollis driving in two runs and Hall recording an RBI.
Heritage Academy will host Indianola Academy at 11 a.m. Saturday and Lee Academy at 5 p.m. Saturday as part of the Golden Triangle Classic.
Caledonia 20, West Point 2, four innings
CALEDONIA — Caledonia used a 14-run third inning to run-rule West Point 20-2 in four innings on Thursday.
Loren Cox was 2 for 2 with two walks and drove in five runs for the Cavaliers. Gavin Holloman had two sacrifice flies.
Jacob Humbers pitched all four innings and earned the win.
Caledonia batted around twice in the third. The Cavs had two runs in the first inning and four in the second.
Caledonia will play at Mantachie at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Northeast Jones 4, Starkville 3, eight innings
ELLISVILLE — Starkville High School suffered an extra-inning walk-off loss to Northeast Jones on Thursday at Jones College.
After the Yellow Jackets got a run in the top of the eighth, the Tigers had two in the bottom of the inning to win 4-3.
Mason Thurlow and Jackson Owen each had two hits for Starkville. Caden Tate and Riley Dawkins each drove in a run.
Brennon Wright pitched six innings for the Jackets, striking out six. Banks Perry also saw time on the mound for Starkville.
The Jackets will play D’Iberville at 4 p.m. Friday at East Central Community College.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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