As soon as RL Mattix buried a 3-pointer from the left wing to put the New Hope boys basketball team up 16 points against Columbus, he jogged into the backcourt to high-five freshman LJ Hackman.
The slap of their hands reverberated across a packed but quiet gym.
Less than two minutes into the third quarter, Mattix and his teammates had put the Falcons’ crowd to bed early. The senior scored 30 points in all, leading the charge for New Hope in a 75-51 win at Columbus on Friday.
“He had a great game,” New Hope coach Drew McBrayer said. “I thought RL played very well considering that he didn’t score Tuesday night. … Tonight, he shot the ball extremely well.”
New Hope improved to 20-1 with the victory. The Trojans won all six of their district games, capturing the No. 1 seed in the district tournament beginning Feb. 11 in Grenada.
Mattix had 15 points in the first quarter alone, keeping his team afloat while Columbus played its best quarter of the game — senior AJ Brownlee hit a layup at the buzzer to put New Hope up 19-17 at the end of the period.
As McBrayer alluded to, Mattix was held scoreless against Grenada on Tuesday, though he nearly had a double-double with rebounds and assists. Hitting his first few shots built his confidence for a strong showing Friday.
“I had to bounce back from last game,” he said. “… I had to get in a rhythm early,” he said.
The rest of his team took a little while to warm up, but in typical New Hope fashion this year, the Trojans turned it on quickly.
New Hope scored 17 points in the second quarter, held Columbus to just eight and took a 36-25 lead into the break.
“We just start getting comfortable,” McBrayer said. “The more comfortable we get, the more relaxed we play. It’s hard to match our energy a lot of times, so the longer the game goes on, the better off we are.”
The opposite was true for Columbus (14-9). Much like in a 65-55 loss at New Hope on Jan. 17, the Falcons faded after the first quarter.
“It was the same thing we did last game,” Morris said. “We played in the first quarter: made shots, got it going. Second quarter, it just got away. Those guys just wanted it more than us.”
In the third quarter, the Falcons scored just eight points again, and New Hope continued to pull away. The Trojans had a 51-33 lead by the end of the period, and they scored 24 points to Columbus’ 18 in the fourth quarter to notch a comfortable win.
“It’s always fun to beat a rival like that,” McBrayer said. “I thought the boys played with an extreme amount of energy tonight and took care of business.”
Columbus girls 49, New Hope 33
On Jan. 17 at New Hope, the Columbus girls came out firing, jumping out to a 21-1 lead on the Trojans and coasting to an eventual 62-17 win.
Things were different Friday.
“We just didn’t make the shots,” Columbus coach Yvonne Hairston said. “We did a lot of the things we were supposed to. We got them to turn the ball over. We just could not capitalize on their mistakes tonight.”
Yet the Falcons (19-3) still won comfortably, a 49-33 victory over New Hope (10-10) that served as a testament to Columbus’ skill this season. Even on an off shooting night, the Falcons were able to beat their crosstown rivals and finish district play undefeated.
“That’s a blessing to be able to do that,” Hairston said.
The first quarter alone was an indication that things wouldn’t come quite as easily for Columbus as they did two weeks ago. The Falcons scored just seven points, uncharacteristically struggling to convert off takeaways and missing more jumpers than usual. Still, Columbus kept New Hope to just three points and scored seven of its own.
The Falcons opened it up a bit by halftime, holding a 24-13 lead, but afterward, they could never quite find the second level they showed in the two teams’ first meeting. New Hope never got too close, but the Trojans hung around.
“Columbus is a good team — give them credit for that,” New Hope coach Nick Christy said. “But you can’t be defeated before the game starts. I think we had a different mindset. They were ready to play today. We made a lot of mistakes that we need to fix going forward, but overall, the effort was there. We came and competed. We didn’t get the result that we wanted, but I was glad to see the girls compete …”
Even still, it wasn’t enough to beat the Falcons. Senior Aniya Saddler led the team with 19 points and five rebounds, four steals and three assists. Junior DJ Jackson scored 11 points, and senior Bri Smith paired nine points and 10 rebounds.
Friday was the final regular-season home game for the Falcons’ seniors (Saddler, Smith, Nitirah Barry and Sercora Tate), but if things go right in the district tournament and the playoffs beyond, Columbus’ seniors will get a few more chances to play together.
“I was having bittersweet moments because I’ve been with this team for four years,” Smith said. “I’ve enjoyed every moment of it, and I don’t want to leave.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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