Jared Long and the Heritage Academy boys basketball team are finally getting up to speed.
Long, three other starters, several role players and head coach Russ Whiteside were all part of the Patriots’ championship football team. Most of them, Long included, were “slow coming on” when they made the transition back to basketball in late November.
Not anymore.
Long led all scorers with 20 points Tuesday as Heritage Academy routed rival Starkville Academy 63-37, and his impact was felt in far more than just the scorebook.
“In the last few games, he’s really been big for us,” Whiteside said. “Jared can do about what he wants to do with his athleticism and his length. When he wants to defend, he can really defend.”
Long showed off his rebounding prowess, too, outleaping Volunteers left and right to grab anything and everything off the glass.
“When you double him, and people are scrambling, it’s hard to get him blocked off the boards because he’s getting a running start,” Starkville Academy coach Bill Ball said. “You can see his athleticism … He’s just a bad matchup for us. I thought he hurt us on the boards as much as anything.”
With Long and big man Eli Acker providing second chances on the offensive end and keeping the Volunteers to one shot on defense, the Patriots’ defense cracked down. The Pats held the Vols to just seven points in each of the first two quarters and five in the third.
“I thought we did a really good job with pressuring the basketball in the halfcourt and making it difficult for them to get into some offense,” Whiteside said. “I was really proud of them because we had struggled some defensively. Ball pressure was big, and we did a good job of getting to the help side as well.”
Meanwhile, the Patriots (11-6) seemed to have no such trouble scoring. Acker made his post presence known again, scoring 14 points; seniors Reid Huskison and Steele Altmyer each scored six.
Altmyer made his return to the lineup after missing a little over a week with a sprained ankle, which he said still limited him a bit Tuesday.
“He was really good for us,” Whiteside said. “If you saw his ankle, you would wonder how in the world he’s doing what he’s doing.”
After missing a large portion of last season with a broken foot, Altmyer was determined to make it back as soon as he could after spraining his ankle Dec. 28.
“I’ve been icing a lot, doing a lot of rehab to get back out here, and it showed,” he said. “I’m glad I’m back.”
With Altmyer back in the fold, the Patriots are inching closer to their full potential: The team’s deep roster features a whopping nine seniors — that’s new ground for Whiteside.
“I’ve never had a team with this many seniors and playing this many seniors,” he said, “but I’m glad we’ve got them.”
Starkville Academy girls 60, Heritage Academy 34
Given its small roster, the Starkville Academy girls team focuses a lot on its defense.
The Volunteers don’t have the depth to constantly press or create a lot of turnovers, Ball said, so it comes down to the fundamentals: staying in front of offensive players, defending the interior and boxing out for defensive rebounds.
The Vols stress defense heavily at every practice, junior Lillee Alpe said, and that effort paid off in a big way Tuesday. Starkville Academy (10-7) came out with some early offensive firepower, locked down Heritage Academy (9-10) on the other side of the court and posted a 60-34 win over its rival school.
“We’re starting to understand and play a little better together,” Ball said.
The Vols held Patriots seniors Bailey Harris and Sydney Adair under 10 points apiece, a rare performance by the two dynamic scorers. Freshman forward Lucy Sharp had 10 points to lead Heritage Academy on an offensive off night.
“We’ve gotta do a better job of figuring out ways to score when they take certain people away,” Heritage Academy coach Moe Reed said.
Junior forward Caroline Wood dominated inside for the Vols, taking advantage of a considerable size advantage inside against the Pats’ Kaicey Chitmon. Wood slipped inside for layup after layup Tuesday, finishing with 21 points on the night to lead all scorers.
“I thought they did a really good job of going inside and finding the mismatch on the post player with Caroline Wood,” Reed said. “She had a really, really good game for them.”
Wood’s six points in the first quarter alone were enough to outscore Heritage Academy in the period, as the Pats were down 13-5 heading into the second. It didn’t get better from there for the home team, as Starkville Academy pulled away to a 34-15 halftime lead.
“I was kind of disappointed with how we handled adversity a little bit,” Reed said. “We didn’t step up to the plate like I wanted to.”
That goes back to the Vols’ frustrating defense, which forced plenty of missed shots by Heritage Academy from all areas of the court. The defense was “the difference in the game tonight,” Alpe said, and the big rivalry win was encouraging for a young team starting to come together.
“I think it means everything is paying off,” Wood said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 24 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 24 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
