STARKVILLE — Heritage Academy boys’ basketball team locked up their district’s title on Monday with a win at rivals Starkville Academy. The Patriots trailed by 11 points at the half, and trailed by 10 going into the final minutes of the fourth, but rallied behind the scoring of Xzavier Webber and KJ Barnes to steal a late 59-56 victory.
“It’s fantastic, especially going to the playoffs,” Patriots head coach Andrew Howell said after the game. “Starkville is a really good team and they’re well coached, and to come in here and get hit in the mouth like that, and then respond with a win, that’s the kind of game we need.”
Webber led both teams in scoring with 25 points, adding to an impressive season and career tally for the Patriots. He passed the 1,000-point milestone at the weekend and showed no signs of slowing down as he heads into the playoffs.
Webber’s skill was on display as well, helping to kill close to a minute of the remaining clock after the Pats took a late lead. He evaded his defenders as they looked for a steal, and continued to evade as they tried to settle for a foul to stop the clock and send him to the free-throw line.
“Xzavier is just tough to guard,” Vols head coach Mark Alexander said. “We thought about going with zone for a little bit, but they’ve got good three-point shooters who were right there with what we were doing.”
“He’s an incredible kid, the embodiment of who you want as an athlete,” Howell said of Webber. “He’s always in the gym, gets great grades, he’s incredibly respectful, an all-around incredible kid who just happens to be really good at basketball too. He’s a great example for everyone else of what can happen if you work hard.”
In their final two possessions, the Vols had two open looks to tie the game, but two attempts from beyond the arc bounced off the rim as the visitors closed out the win. One attempt came from Luke McKenzie, who starred on the day with some big stops on defense and 21 points on offense.
“I’m super proud of my guys,” Alexander said. “They left it all out there and if you’d said this group could do this two months ago you’d say that’s crazy. We’ve come a long way, they compete and battle and we gave ourselves a chance to win.”
The result is that the Patriots will finish as the top seed in MAIS Class 5A District 1, while the Vols will finish fourth. The district voted not to hold a tournament, so the playoffs will be on hold until District 2 holds its tournament. The Pats will play the opposing No. 4 seed, and the Vols will play the opposing No. 1 seed.
The home fans witnessed strong performances from both teams, including a win for the girls in a dominant 47-25 victory over the Pats. Senior Ali Grace Williams had a good night individually, and the big early lead gave the underclassmen a chance to shine as well in the final district home game.
“It’s great when you can have multiple girls scoring well late in the season,” Vols head coach Robin Chastain said. “I thought our defense has been locked in the last few games, I like to play man so being prone to fouls and having tired legs we play some more zone than I’d like to play, but it’s been working well with our 1-2-2 matchup (zone).”
The team locked up third place in their district and awaits the MAIS Class 5A District 2 tournament results to determine their playoff opponent.
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