ITTA BENA — The fourth time was the charm for Starkville.
The Yellow Jackets used a fast start to get past Tupelo 57-34 in the second round of the MHSAA Boys Class 7A basketball playoffs at Mississippi Valley State’s R.W. Harrison Complex and Stribling-Harris Court on Thursday evening.
Starkville (27-3) will face the Meridian-Biloxi winner on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Mississippi Coliseum. The last time Starkville made it to the Big House was 2021.
The last three seasons the Yellow Jackets saw their season end in the second round.
“That was one of things that was important to us was getting off to a fast start defensively and we were able to get some easy baskets early,” Starkville coach Anthony Carlyle said. “Put some pressure on them and ease some nerves of coming here three years in a row and coming up short, so I thought it was big to get off to a big first quarter.”
It was all Starkville from the start. The Jackets jumped out to a 21-4 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back.
Starkville held a 29-13 lead at halftime.
The third quarter sealed the game for the Yellow Jackets as they outscored the Golden Wave 18-7 to take a 47-20 lead and seal the win.
“We preach defense every day and that’s something we focus on and hold teams to 38 points or less a lot of times. The last three games we’ve held our opponent to 38 or less and just got to get the kids to believe in defense in the next game,” Carlyle said. “We finally made it back to the Big House. We will get some film on both Meridian and Biloxi and get prepared.”
Jaden Tate had a game-high 20 points to lead Starkville, while T.J. Warren added 16 points and Kobe Hendrix chipped in 10 points for the Yellow Jackets.
“It’s a blessing to get over this hump. The past years we didn’t do the little things right, and every team works hard to get here, so this year we did better of doing the little things right and that’s what got us past this hump,” Tate said. “It was motivation to come out and punch the other team in the mouth and get after them defensively and knew what we had to do. We’re happy to be going to the Big House, but we’ve got to stay focused.”
Jeremiah McGlaun had 17 points to lead Tupelo. The Golden Wave ended the year 18-8.
“They came out and played like the number one team in the state. They were dominant and knocked us on our heels early and we had to climb out of that hole from the beginning,” Tupelo coach Robert Green said. “I hate we picked this stage to play one of our worst games of the year. We got here last year and lost and the same thing happened this year, so we’ve got to continue to make progress.”
Girls basketball
Starkville 46, Clinton 22
For the second straight season Starkville is heading back to the Mississippi Coliseum.
Logan Warren scored a game-high 19 points and Jade Brown added 11 points as the Yellow Jackets raced past Clinton 46-22 in the second round of the MHSAA Girls Class 7A basketball playoffs.
Starkville (29-3) will face the Biloxi-Brandon winner on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
“It’s hard to keep playing the same team over and over when you’ve beaten them as bad as we’ve had earlier in the year, but they had a good game plan and thankfully Logan Warren showed up ready to play,” Starkville head coach Matt Wilbanks said. “We stayed in foul trouble and didn’t move our feet well at all. Exciting to go back to the Coliseum and the goal as always is to win it. I’ve made it now five out of the last six years with three different teams, so I need to win one. Brandon and Biloxi are well coached and we’re going to need to play a lot better and need to be ready for the task.”
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