NEW HOPE — For nearly 20 minutes Friday night, the New Hope High School boys basketball team was unrecognizable.

The hot-shooting offense? It missed shot after shot. The scrappy defense? It gave up easy baskets. Visiting Columbus took advantage, controlling the game with a 15-point lead midway through the third quarter.

And then?

“And then we decided to guard a little bit better,” New Hope coach Drew McBrayer said.

That was all it took for the Trojans to flip Friday night’s game on its head.

New Hope (10-3) roared back from the double-digit deficit, taking the lead for good with 1:22 to go en route to a 53-50 win over the Falcons in the MHSAA Class 5A, Region 1 contest.

“It’s always good to beat a crosstown rival, especially Columbus,” New Hope senior Caleb Parr said.

Parr scored a game-high 23 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, to help the Trojans beat the Falcons for the seventh consecutive time. Columbus’ last win over New Hope was Jan. 12, 2019.

For much of Friday’s game, it seemed like that was about to change. The Falcons’ lead kept getting bigger: six points after the first quarter, 10 at halftime, 15 three minutes into the third period.

But the New Hope offense held in check all night wasn’t going away.

McBrayer went to a smaller lineup out of a timeout with 4:44 left in the period, and the change paid dividends. New Hope got the lead down to eight points in barely 90 seconds. Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, it was a three-point contest, once again anyone’s game.

That’s where Parr and junior guard LJ Hackman got to work. The duo combined for 31 of New Hope’s 33 points in the second half, dominating the game and proving Columbus had no answer for them.

“That’s what we basically expected this year: come out here and lead our team any way possible,” Parr said. “This is our role: to go out there and lead, and that’s what we did.”

Parr in particular came up clutch, putting New Hope ahead with two free throws in the one-and-one with 2:50 to go. He provided much-needed separation at the line, sinking another pair after a Falcons miss with 33.6 seconds left.

“It’s just another night for Caleb,” McBrayer said. “Yes, it’s exciting. It’s awesome. But it doesn’t surprise me when he plays a game like that in a big situation.”

Hackman scored 17 points and converted the and-one layup to put New Hope on top for the last time after a pair of free throws by Columbus’ JJ Williams. He and Parr made all nine of their attempts at the foul line in the quarter, success Parr said “fuels the fire” for the rest of the team.

“I wouldn’t want anybody else on the line besides them two in a ballgame when it’s on the line,” McBrayer said.

Down by three points with 13 seconds left, Columbus missed out on a chance to send the game to overtime. Tre Dismuke missed a 3-pointer, and Willie Young got the rebound, racing behind the arc with only a few seconds to go. Young’s shot also drew iron just before time expired.

The misfires clinched another win for the Trojans over the Falcons, a victory Parr said can help his team down the road in other closely contested games where foul calls are few and far between.

And it means more bragging rights for New Hope after yet another close contest between the crosstown schools ended with the Trojans on top.

“Every time we throw it up, you know it’s going to be a war,” McBrayer said. “Anytime you come out on top in a rivalry, it’s really exciting.”

Columbus girls 59, New Hope 26

Madyson McBrayer slammed her fists against the black padding lining the front wall of the gym.

The New Hope junior couldn’t convert after catching a long pass on her way to the hoop in the second quarter, allowing Columbus to regain possession.

McBrayer’s frustration was obvious after the play, one of several of its kind in a vexing loss for the Trojans as the Falcons (12-4, 2-0 Region 1-5A) romped, 59-26. New Hope scored just seven points in the first half and trailed by 32 at the midway point.

But even for Columbus, not everything was perfect despite the one-sided scoreline.

“We weren’t in sync as well as I would like us to be, but we got a win, so anytime you get a win is a good thing,” Falcons coach Yvonne Hairston said.

Senior Makayla Rieves led Columbus with 21 points, hitting four 3-pointers. Junior MaKhya Weatherspoon hit three triples as well, adding 11 points.

“She had some good looks at the basket,” Hairston said. “She likes to shoot the ball, put the ball up.”

As a team, Columbus did that in bunches, forcing New Hope into turnover after turnover and stretching the lead out. The Falcons got nearly their whole roster into the game and allowed each player to try their hand.

“We took a lot of shots,” Hairston said. “We didn’t make as many as I would like, but the shots were good; they just didn’t go in.”

That was somewhat to be expected after a long layoff for winter break. Columbus didn’t play a game for two weeks until Tuesday’s 55-44 win over Saltillo to open district play.

But the Falcons didn’t seem all that rusty Friday night, jumping out to an 18-5 lead after the first quarter. Jada Jefferson’s layup more than five minutes into the second quarter was New Hope’s only basket in the period as Columbus took a 39-7 lead into the break.

The Trojans’ offense improved — albeit against the Falcons’ reserves — in the second half. McBrayer led New Hope with six points, Jakayla Smith had five off the bench, and Jefferson finished with four.

The Trojans will play Tuesday at West Point, while the Falcons won’t play until Friday, when they hit the road to face the Green Wave.

By then, Hairston hopes Columbus looks better than it did against New Hope, despite the victory.

“You’re going to look like that sometimes,” she said. “We were just happy to get the win, especially out here in a hostile environment like it is.”

Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.