Columbus High School boys basketball coach Sammy Smith knows his team can deliver a better effort than it gave Tuesday night in the opening round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A, Region 3 tournament.
Columbus struggled offensively early and never recovered in a 62-49 loss to Starkville.
The good news for the Falcons is they get another chance to redeem themselves Friday night.
“It’s a new era,” Smith said. “We are fortunate to have a chance to keep playing. It’s a different system but I am liking a whole lot right now.”
Columbus will face Northwest Rankin at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Starkville High School in the third place of the tournament. The top three teams for each Class 5A and Class 6A region tournament will advance to next week’s North State playoffs.
In the opening round of the playoffs, No. 3 seeds will play at No. 2 seeds for the girls on Monday and boys on Tuesday. Region tournament champions receive a bye and will not play again until Friday for the girls and Saturday for the boys.
Nos. 2 and 3 seeds will need two wins to advance to the quarterfinal round of the playoffs, while region tournament champions will only need one.
The quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds of the playoffs will be held in Jackson at either Jackson State University or Mississippi Coliseum. In all six classifications, eight girls teams and eight boys teams (four North, four South) will advance to Jackson.
“I really like the new format,” Starkville coach Kristie William said. “It rewards more teams. It also rewards a team for winning its region tournament. We have a lot of incentive to win Friday night.”
The Starkville girls face Columbus at 7 p.m. Friday for the region championship.
In Classes 1A through 4A, four teams will advance from each region tournament. No. 4 will play at No. 1, while No. 3 will play at No. 2 on either Monday (girls) or Tuesday (boys). The first-round winners play Friday (girls) and Saturday (boys). In these classifications, two wins will be needed for a team to make it to Jackson.
Tonight at West Point, four more teams will try to seize a second opportunity for advancement.
At 6 p.m., the girls third place game of the Class 5A, Region 2 tournament matches New Hope and Saltillo. The 7:30 p.m. boys third-place game matches West Point and Saltillo.
“Even thought it has been a disappointing season, it would be major achievement to make the playoffs,” New Hope girls coach Laura Lee Holman said. “We are a young team to being able to qualify would mean a lot and be a positive to carry into next season.”
The Saltillo girl beat New Hope in overtime in their last regular season meeting, while the West Point boys beat Salitllo in overtime in their last regular season meeting.
The final round of the 2-5A tournament is set for Friday night when the top-seeded Oxford girls meet upstart West Point at 6 p.m. and the top-seeded Oxford boys look to win this season’s rubber match with New Hope.
Noxubee County ineligible: According to the Clarion-Ledger, Noxubee County High School has been disqualified from the Class 4A, Region 4 tournament being held at Caledonia High School.
The Noxubee County boys beat Houston 63-50 Tuesday night. However, the Tigers were apparently ruled ineligible for the remainder of the region tournament and banned from postseason play for playing too many regular season games.
The Mississippi High School Activities Association limits member institutions to 28 regular season games. The Noxubee County boys improved to 16-14 with Tuesday night’s win.
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported Wednesday night that Houston coach Orlando Randle was informed by his principal Buz Boyer that the team would be taking Noxubee County’s place in the tournament in time for tonight’s semifinal round contest with West Lauderdale. By advancing to Thursday, Houston would qualify for next week’s North State playoffs.
The ban also includes the top-seeded Noxubee County girls. It was unclear late Wednesday night whether Leake Central would face another opponent or receive a bye during tonight’s play.
The Daily Journal said MHSAA officials had no comment about the ban Wednesday night, while the Dispatch could not reach administrators and coaches with Noxubee County.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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