Defend and rebound.
That’s what Starkville High School boys basketball coach Greg Carter preaches to his team. It’s so important that it’s on the back of many Yellow Jacket basketball T-shirts — many of those worn by Yellow Jacket players before Saturday night’s game against Columbus.
Trailing by one point at halftime, Carter needed his team to follow the team motto, so he articulated that message to them in the locker room. The Yellow Jackets did just that in the second half to beat the Falcons 48-31 in a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) matchup to sweep the regular-season series.
“That’s what we do,” Carter said. “We want to come out and try to defend and rebound every night the best we can. We had to pick it up from the first half. We gave them too many easy opportunities.”
The Yellow Jackets (8-1) scored the first four points of the second half to take a 25-22 lead, as Darrious Agnew made a jump hook and Dallen Bailey made a layup. Columbus’ Robert Woodard II, who had a game-high 14 points, made a jump shot to cut the lead to one. Starkville then went on a 13-0 run to lead 38-24 after three quarters. Woodard’s basket was the only points for the Falcons (4-6) in the third quarter.
“It helped us a lot, especially on the offensive end,” Agnew said of the halftime defensive adjustments. “We got back to playing our game.”
Columbus first-year coach Gary Griffin felt good at halftime. After Woodard scored the Falcons’ first 10 points, the rest of the team picked up the slack offensively. Kaderius Williams made a layup, Jonte Williams knocked down two free throws, Greg King made back-to-back 3-pointers, and Denijay Harris crossed over a defender and dunked it to bring the fans to their feet.
The Falcons led 22-21 at halftime, but were outscored 27-9 in the second half.
“I thought we got good looks and we got the ball around the basket. We just didn’t finish,” Griffin said. “In the first half, we did some good things, we got out on the break and got some easy baskets. In the second half, we were limited. The shots just weren’t falling in the second half. We kept putting them up, but guys weren’t making them.”
Carter said he didn’t focus too much on his offense at halftime. He said it was a matter of his team finishing when it got looks around the basket.
Agnew led Starkville with 12 points, while Jesse Little added 11.
“(Agnew) can score,” Carter said. “He wasn’t as consistent as he normally is scoring, but in the second half he put it together. Jesse gave us some points in there and Jesse was big defensively. Those two guys, they’ve been carrying us offensively and defensively. Our guards are making better decisions now and if we can put all that together, we have a chance to be pretty good.”
In the first meeting on Nov. 15 in Starkville, the Yellow Jackets beat the reigning MHSAA Class 6A State champions 56-51.
Although it wasn’t the defensive effort he wanted in the first half, Carter was happy with how his team responded in the second half.
“We really clamped down,” Carter said.
n Starkville girls 48, Columbus 38: the Lady Yellow Jackets used a 12-0 run that spanned the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth to pull away and stay unbeaten.
Hannah White hit a 3-pointer to put Columbus (5-3) ahead 30-29 late in the third quarter. Jalisa Outlaw answered quickly with a jump shot and Starkville took a 31-30 lead, a lead it never lost.
“I think we responded well,” Starkville girls coach Kristie Williams said. “We’re going to face a lot of teams that are going to give us their best effort every time.”
The Lady Jackets (9-0), who beat the Lady Falcons 61-54 in the first meeting, led 14-10 after the first quarter. However, the Lady Falcons outscored them 13-9 in the second to pull even at 23 at halftime.
Williams felt like her team was able to take care of the basketball better in the second half and that helped as they outscored the Lady Falcons 25-15 in the second half.
“We were able to make them understand how to shoot the gaps against the defense,” Williams said. “They were in a 2-3 zone, and if we were just to get into the gaps we had an opportunity to either score or pull them out and dump it into Kelsey (Jones).”
Starkville’s Tabreea Gandy had a game-high 16 points, while Jariyah Covington added 14 and Outlaw had 10. Zaria Jenkins led Columbus with 15 points, while Kennedi Stephens had 10.
n Starkville (boys) 51, Southeast Lauderdale 33: Jesse Little had 14 points Friday night to lead the Yellow Jackets.
Jamarrion Brown had 10 points and Blake Rogers had eight for Starkville.
n In the girls game, Kelsey Jones had 27 points to lead Starkville to a 72-39 victory.
Covington had 14 points and Gandy added 12 for the Lady Yellow Jackets.
n New Hope (boys ) 91, Noxubee County 42: At Columbus, Terryonte Thomas made seven 3-pointers en route to a game-high 33 points Friday to help the Trojans improve to 7-2.
Andrew Junkin added 12 points, 15 rebounds, and eight blocked shots, while JaQuante Bell added 10 for New Hope.
n In the girls game, Julia Franks had 13 points to lead New Hope to a 48-40 victory.
Lanoria Abrams had 12 points for the Lady Trojans (5-3).
n Columbus Christian Academy 60, Winston Academy 35: Brent Beckwith had 19 points to lead the Rams in their Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) game.
Nate Parker had 12 points and Dakameron Mitchell added 11 for CCA.
n In other action, the Heritage Academy boys edged East Webster 61-60. Stats weren’t available for the game.
n Pickens Academy (boys), East memorial Christian Academy : At Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in the championship game of the Tuscaloosa Academy Invitational.
n On Friday, Hamner Allen had 13 points and seven assists to lead Pickens Academy to a 59-45 victory against Tuscaloosa Academy. Lee Acker had 11 points and seven rebounds, and Austin Goodman had nine points.
n In the girls game, Tuscaloosa Academy beat Pickens Academy 50-40.
Kacy Noland led the Lady Pirates with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Football
n Alabama beats Mississippi in All-Star Classic: At Montgomery, Alabama, Henry Ruggs returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to lead Alabama past Mississippi 25-14 in the 30th Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic on Saturday.
Ruggs’ touchdown was the first of several special teams plays that helped Alabama to the victory.
“There was a huge hole for me to run through on that play,” said Ruggs, a highly recruited receiver from Robert E. Lee who is uncommitted for college. “What did I see? Green. A lot of green.”
Ruggs had 120 all-purpose yards to lead all players.
Alabama’s Jake Lane kicked three field goals to tie an All-Star record. Alabama also scored on a safety after Mississippi botched a snap on a punting opportunity. Brian Robinson, who is verbally committed to play in college at Alabama, put the game out of reach with a 13-yard touchdown run.
“It just shows the kicking game is very important, even in a game like this,” said Alabama coach Terry Curtis of UMS-Wright. “And when we needed to pound it there at the end, I thought Brian Robinson really ran the ball hard.”
In an era where dual-threat quarterback and big-play receivers often steal the show — especially in an All-Star showcase situation — it was no-frills special teams execution that pushed Alabama over the top.
“I’m old school, we practiced kicking every day,” Curtis said. “That was important. We kicked every day, all four phases. The kickoff return by Henry, that was big. Then they pooched it the rest of the time, but that’s OK, too.”
Mississippi Most Valuable Player Kylin Hill, of Columbus, led all rushers with 91 yards. Alabama MVP Thomas Johnston, of Spanish Fort, had a game-high 16 tackles, which was one shy of the all-star game record set by Philadelphia (Miss.) High’s C.J. Johnson in 2010.
Alabama’s win avenged Mississippi’s 28-21 victory in Hattiesburg last year, the first over Alabama since 2007. Alabama leads the series 22-8.
Soccer
n New Hope 5, Columbus 2: Connor Rose scored two goals Saturday to lead the Trojans past the Falcons.
Bryan Vogel, Marc Juanico, and Nathan Wilson also scored for New Hope.
n In the girls game, Bree Younger, Maddie Beard, and Anna Kate O’Bryant scored goals in New Hope’s 3-0 victory. The Lady Trojans improved to 4-7 with the victory.
n On Friday, the Oxford boys edged New Hope 1-0 in Columbus. Bryce Braddock had nine saves for the Trojans in their MHSAA Class 5A, Region 2 matchup.
“We played a solid game and just couldn’t finish,” New Hope boys soccer coach Andrew Olsen said. “We got unlucky and let one in with six minutes left in the game.”
n In the girls game, Oxford won 9-0.
n MSMS (girls) 5, West Point 0: At Columbus, Senior McKenzie Jones had two goals to lead the Lady Waves (3-5) Saturday at the Columbus Soccer Complex.
Seniors Hannah Houston and Emmie Waits and junior Meagan Pittman also scored, while senior Britney Casmus had two assists and Darby Meadows had one.
“It’s great to move into our holiday break with a solid team effort and win against an area rival,” MSMS coach Chuck Yarborough said. “The girls hard work is beginning to pay off on the pitch.”
n In the nightcap, the MSMS and West Point boys fought to a 1-1 draw.
Junior Aidan Dunkelberg scored for MSMS.
“It’s tough to come away from that match with a tie. Take nothing away from West Point. They are a good side that keeps improving,” MSMS coach Dylan Mims said. “Junior David Thaggard came up big in goal with saving the potential go-ahead penalty kick.”
The MSMS boys improved to 3-4-1 on the year.
MSMS will play Jan. 5, 2017, at Neshoba Central.
n Amory (girls) 8, Caledonia 1: At Caledonia, Anna Carolina Parish scored for the Lady Confederates (5-4) Friday in their MHSAA Class 4A, Region 2 opener.
Hallie Kate Brewer had an assist for Caledonia.
n In the boys game, Amory won 2-0 in overtime. Caledonia fell to 4-4-1 and 0-1 in the district.
“It was heartbreaking,” Caledonia coach Louis Alexander said. “Garrett Parish had six shots. Quaid Phillips had six shots. Daniel Longmire had four shots. Garret Bergstrom had one. We are playing a lot better than how we started the season. I feel we are establishing our identity and our confidence is growing with each game. We are putting all aspects of the game together for the full 80 minutes, and they realize when they do, they can play with anybody. I am excited to see what the rest of the season holds, as well as the future, as I have a good crop of youngsters coming through the ranks.”
n Starkville Academy (boys) 1, Greenville St. Joseph Catholic School 0: Dalton Dempsey’s breakaway goal Friday helped the Volunteers improve to 5-3.
n In related news, the Starkville Academy boys soccer team will hold an alumni game at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21. The match will feature former players against the current team.
n On Thursday, Dempsey had three goals (hat trick) in a 6-2 victory against Magnolia Heights.
n Correction: Heritage Academy’s Tyner Swedenburg and John Isaac Stafford had their names misspelled in Friday’s edition.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Staff reports were included in this story.
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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