LOUISVILLE — All season long, it’s been “next man up” for the Starkville Academy boys basketball team.
Turns out that applies to coaches, too.
With head coach Bill Ball out with COVID-19, assistant Braxton Eubanks stepped in to guide the Volunteers to a 59-46 win over Lamar School in Thursday’s MAIS Class 4A, District 2 tournament semifinal in Louisville, sending Starkville Academy on to Saturday’s championship game against Leake Academy.
“You never know when you’re going to be called on,” Eubanks said.
For Eubanks, that moment came last Thursday when Ball tested positive for the virus. The Vols didn’t play their scheduled game Friday, making sure the disease hadn’t spread throughout the team. It hadn’t, and Thursday’s game remained on — but Ball’s status was uncertain.
“It was always a question if he was going to be back for this game,” Eubanks said. “I was prepared and ready.”
Ultimately, Ball didn’t make the trip to host site Winston Academy. That left Eubanks — currently a student at Mississippi State — to coach his first non-junior high contest at Starkville Academy in a big spot.
And the Volunteers delivered for him with a big offensive night against the Raiders, a balanced showing in which Starkville Academy scored 29 points in the first half and 30 in the second.
“We played fantastically on offense — got out and ran a lot in transition,” Eubanks said.
On one key play at the end of the first quarter, the Vols showed a perfect example of that philosophy. Inbounding with 5.1 seconds to go, Starkville Academy tasked sophomore Cy Hallberg with getting up the court quickly and looking for a quick bucket. Hallberg took the ball coast to coast and laid it in with tenths of a second remaining, a big basket to put Starkville Academy up 11-4 at the end of the period.
“That really helped us go into the second quarter with intensity,” junior Jarius Jordan said. “We started off slow, but we came into the second quarter and picked it up a little bit.”
Jordan had nine of his team-high 16 points in the period as the Vols outscored the Raiders 18-12 in the second, taking a 13-point lead into halftime. The junior said Starkville Academy just kept attacking, pushing the pace past what Lamar could handle.
“They really couldn’t keep up with us on the run, so that’s what we kept doing,” Jordan said.
But after halftime, it was the Raiders’ turn to get on a roll. With a 21-point third quarter, Lamar outdid its scoring in the entirety of the first half, getting to the rim too easily for Starkville Academy’s liking.
Still, the Raiders never got within seven points as a combination of missed shots and continued offense from the Vols kept the game from getting too close.
Eubanks promised to shore up Starkville Academy’s defending by Saturday’s title game against Leake. But even if the Vols play a game like they did Thursday, it won’t be easy for the Rebels to surpass them.
“We want to play on defense first, but when they’re playing good on offense, we’re hard to beat,” Eubanks said.
While Thursday’s win isn’t the one Starkville Academy wanted — the Vols have their sights set on the state championship, Jordan said — the team will be plenty prepared to face Leake at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Take it from their new coach.
“They’re ready to roll,” Eubanks said.
Leake Academy boys 60, Heritage Academy 42
The timeout was supposed to help.
After Heritage Academy senior Jonathan Peal got a short runner to drop in the third quarter of Thursday’s district semifinal against Leake Academy, Patriots coach Russ Whiteside promptly signaled for time. With Heritage Academy trailing 36-29, Whiteside hoped the Pats could build on Peal’s make when play resumed.
Instead, Leake senior point guard Clay Kemp drove to the basket for a layup. On the ensuing possession, Heritage Academy turned the ball right back over to the Rebels.
The sequence summed up the Patriots’ 60-42 loss to Leake on Thursday night — a game in which Heritage Academy (16-5) simply couldn’t get going.
“It’s just one of those games that’s really frustrating,” Whiteside said. “You don’t feel like you did anything good at all.”
The Patriots jogged into their locker room at halftime trailing by just one point, 26-25, but they proceeded to go cold from the field. Shot after shot clanked off the rim as Heritage Academy managed just five points in the third quarter, which ended with Leake staked to a 41-30 lead.
“The thing about it is, we’ve got some kids that can score,” Whiteside said. “Tonight, we didn’t have anybody who could score. Nobody shot it well tonight. Hopefully, that’s the only problem. If it is, we can fix it and hopefully get ready to make a run.”
The Patriots, who are already assured a spot in the Class 4A north state tournament, will play Lamar in the third-place contest at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Meanwhile, Leake advanced to face Starkville Academy in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Rebels coach Phil Shepard said it’s been several years since his team has made it this far.
“We’re excited to get to go and know we’ll play a quality team on Saturday,” Shepard said. “We’re just looking forward to it.”
Thursday, he praised his team’s improvement over the course of the season. On Jan. 7, Heritage Academy beat Leake by 29 points in Columbus, and the Patriots grabbed a two-point win Jan. 19 in Madden.
Shepard said the second game — not the more comfortable wins each team posted — is a sign that the two teams are evenly matched. Really, he said, Thursday’s game was quite close until Leake’s Henry Dabbs banked in a crucial third-quarter 3-pointer.
“You can’t do anything about the bank,” Whiteside said. “The fact that he got the open look there was us out of position.”
It was just one instance of poor play that cost the Pats on Thursday night. In another, Leake’s Whitt Welch missed a corner 3-pointer, sprinted after the rebound and put the ball back up and in before any Heritage Academy player could touch it.
“When they shoot it, they go get it,” Whiteside said. “I don’t know how well they shot it tonight, but they killed us on the offensive boards.”
Ultimately, though, the game came down to the Pats’ inability to score in the second half. By the time Heritage Academy takes the court Saturday evening, Whiteside knows that will have to change.
“It’s been a problem all year: We’ve just not scored well in all four quarters,” he said. “There’s only been a couple of games that we have.”
Other MAIS district tournament scores
Class 4A, District 2 — at Winston Academy
Leake Academy girls 58, Starkville Academy 21, district tournament semifinal
Class 2A, District 2 — at Newton County Academy
Newton County Academy girls 63, Columbus Christian Academy 60
The Columbus Christian Academy girls came up just short in Thursday’s District 2-2A championship game against host Newton County Academy.
Faith Yeates had 18 points to lead the Rams. Cayden Harding had 14, and CC DeVos had eight.
Columbus Christian awaits its assignment for the north state tournament, which the Rams will host next week.
Hebron Christian girls 39, Kemper Academy 35, overtime
The Hebron Christian School girls beat Kemper Academy 39-35 in overtime in Thursday’s third-place game.
Lindsey Daniels had 16 points for the Eagles.
Amber Wedel and Elisha Carter were named to the all-tournament team.
Kemper Academy boys 51, Columbus Christian Academy 39
The Columbus Christian boys finished in fourth place in the district tournament with a 51-39 loss to Kemper Academy.
The Rams took the lead into the fourth quarter but couldn’t hold it.
Joe Michael Edwards scored 14 points for Columbus Christian, and Tyler Looney had eight.
Newton County Academy boys 46, Hebron Christian 41, district tournament championship
The Hebron boys lost to Newton County Academy 46-41 in Thursday’s district tournament championship.
Dash Turman had 18 points to lead the Eagles. Turman, Doug Loden and Braeden Triplett were named to the all-tournament team.
Class 3A, District 2 — at Oak Hill Academy
Oak Hill Academy girls 31, Winona Christian 26
The Oak Hill Academy girls beat Winona Christian School 31-26 on Thursday to make Saturday’s District 2-3A tournament final.
The Raiders trailed 15-11 at halftime but outscored the Stars 20-11 in the second half.
Carley Wooten and Sara Nash led Oak Hill with nine points apiece, and Mary Beth Briggs had seven. Allie Comer had four, and McKenzie Middleton had two.
The Raiders face Central Holmes Christian at 3:30 p.m. Saturday for the district championship.
Oak Hill Academy boys 61, Winona Christian 53
The Oak Hill boys also beat Winona Christian on Thursday in West Point to punch their ticket to the tournament final.
The Raiders will play Carroll Academy at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Oak Hill will play at Kirk Academy in the north state tournament next week.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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