MADISON — For Starkville’s David Washington, the halftime message was simple.
“We had to be more aggressive. That simple,” he said.
Behind the second half of play of Washington along with Jerwan McCarter, the Yellow Jackets surged to a 57-52 win over Madison Central in a key Region 2-7A matchup on Thursday night.
“We talked about at halftime that we needed to be more aggressive defensively and we felt like we needed to do a better job on the boards on both ends of the floor,” said Starkville coach Anthony Carlyle. “First half we were taking a lot of jump shots and not getting offensive rebounds, but in the second half the guys picked up their energy and effort and that was the difference in the game.”
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair that saw Madison Central hold a slim 11-10 lead at the end of the opening frame.
The second quarter was all Madison Central. With the game tied 16-16, the Jaguars went on a 13-3 run that included four made three-pointers, to take a 29-19 lead. A Jaden Tate three-pointer for Starkville with just under 30 seconds left in the first half ended the run and cut the Madison Central lead to 29-22 at halftime.
In the second half, however, the game completely flipped. The Yellow Jackets began the third quarter on a 12-2 run to take a 34-31 lead, highlighted by a Washington three-pointer with 3:41 left in the quarter.
The rest of the quarter saw seven different lead changes with Starkville scoring the quarter’s final four points to take a 45-42 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Madison Central’s Maddox Singletary hit a three-pointer to begin the fourth quarter, tying the game at 45-45, but from that point, Washington scored the next seven points for Starkville to give the Yellow Jackets a 52-48 lead. His layup with 36 seconds left extended the Starkville lead to 56-48 to seal the game.
Washington finished with a game-high 21 points to lead the Yellow Jackets.
“We came together as a team in the second half and came out and (were) the dogs that we know we can be and just kept playing hard,” Washington said. “Coach told us that we got to beat them inside and crash the glass and that’s what I did. We’re in the toughest district in the state, so you have to come into every game with a mindset to win.”
Terrell Warren added 12 points for Starkville, while McCarter and Tate each chipped in nine points for the Yellow Jackets (17-4, 3-1 Region 2-7A).
“David and Jerwan being leaders both vocal and making plays were big. They both did a great job and made a lot of tough baskets,” Carlyle said. “Madison Central is a tough matchup, so we had to make some adjustments and our district is so tough that you have try to steal some on the road and we did. You have to be able to win on the road to win in the playoffs.”
Dylan Rowe had 19 points to lead Madison Central, while Navy commit J.P. Baldwin added 14 points for Jaguars (14-7, 1-3).
Both teams continue Region 2-7A play Tuesday night as Starkville travels to Tupelo, while Madison Central hosts Clinton.
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