STARKVILLE — The Starkville Academy boys basketball team missed its first eight shots from the field Tuesday night.
Unfortunately for the Volunteers, that drought was a foreshadowing of things to come.
Starkville Academy missed 20 of its first 21 shots en route to a 54-32 loss to East Rankin Academy in Class AAA, District 2 action.
Starkville Academy’s girls team overcame a sluggish first half to post a 66-42 victory.
The tone of the nightcap was set early. The Volunteers managed one field goal and committed 10 turnovers in the opening quarter.
“We don’t have a true point guard and other teams are beginning to notice that,” Starkville Academy coach Mark Alexander said. “We had a great deal of difficulty getting into our offense. It is something we are going to have to work through. There are no easy answers.”
Four players scored as the Patriots tallied the first nine points. When Starkville Academy’s Austin Kinard rammed a 3-pointer, the Volunteers had missed those eight shots and committed three turnovers.
Kinard’s trey was the lone basket in the opening quarter for the hosts. The Patriots scored the final six points of the period and led 16-4 after one quarter.
“We came out knowing this was our first conference game so we really needed to play hard,” East Rankin senior guard Tyler Rhode said. “Our main game plan was to stop No. 21 (Calvin Young). We knew he was a big part of their offense. When he went out, it helped us a lot.”
The Volunteers lost Young less than two minutes into the second quarter after he suffered an apparent knee sprain going for a rebound. The senior spent the rest of the contest on the bench with ice on his knee. He left the gym on crutches.
Still, the Volunteers (4-5, 0-2 district) attempted to hang tough. After the slow shooting start, Carnai Minor nailed a 3-pointer. Minor then scored on the next possession. It was one of three times the Volunteers scored on back-to-back possessions.
A basket by Kyle Loman brought the Volunteers within 22-12 with 3 minutes, 45 seconds left before halftime. The Patriots used a 6-3 run to close out the half with a 28-15 advantage.
East Rankin reeled off the game’s next six points with three steals. The Patriots had 16 steals in the game.
“There were times the basketball was being passed around like a beach ball at a baseball game,” Alexander said. “We played hot potato with it. We had some missed shots that were contested. We missed some easy shots. We are having a great deal of difficulty maintaining possession and setting up a half-court offense.”
Trailing by 20 entering the final period, the Volunteers received two fourth-quarter scores — back-to-back 3-pointers by sophomore Bradley Weseli.
East Rankin improved to 6-1 and 1-0 in district play. The Patriots showed the balance on the inside necessary to be a contender. East Rankin used solid defense and didn’t make a 3-pointer.
“We got a few more runouts tonight than we have been getting,” McAnally said. “We have quick, long arms. We have always been good at rebounding the basketball. Our post guys are good at finding our guards in transition. We did a good job of turning the great defense into points tonight.”
Jacob Weldon paced the Patriots with 20 points, while Rhodes had 18 points. Kinard hit three 3-pointers to lead Starkville Academy.
In the opener, the Starkville Academy girls built on a six-point halftime lead with a suffocating defensive effort.
“We really had to step it up on defense in the second half,” Starkville Academy sophomore Nora K. Carroll said. “Coach was not really happy with our defense at the half. We weren’t playing our hardest. We had to step it up on the defensive end to make sure we got the win.”
The Lady Volunteers (11-1, 2-0) took control with a 10-2 run midway through the second quarter. Starkville Academy didn’t trail again and led 31-25 at halftime.
“We were moving the ball and taking good shots, but we were giving up way too much,” Starkville Academy coach Glenn Schmidt said. “They have a really great group of outside shooters. We couldn’t quite get those flare screens. We did a better job of that in the second half.”
Starkville Academy held East Rankin (4-6, 0-1) below 25 percent shooting from the field in the second half. The Lady Patriots scored 17 points in the second half.
“I get irritated when we don’t play good defense,” Schmidt said. “We have the talent to be a great defensive team. On offense, we played well all night. We took good shots and made good decisions with the basketball. We have been preaching rebounding all year. Our second-chance points were really critical tonight.
“When our defense could not keep up tonight, our offense was a constant.”
Starkville Academy received 15 points from Anna Lee Little. Carroll had 14 and Sallie Kate Richardson had 12 and a team-high 11 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end. As a team, Starkville Academy had 12 offensive rebounds, 13 assists, six steals, and six blocked shots.
“We really have to focus on the boards if we are going to be a good team,” Carroll said. “The important thing is not think about the games in the past or look ahead to the games in the future. We have to stay in the moment and do the little things right to keep winning.”
Karlie Coghlan led East Rankin Academy with 14 points, while Karleigh Keeton had 13.
Starkville Academy will play host to Copiah Academy on Friday.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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