JACKSON — Starkville survived a scare on the road.
Behind the second-half play of Ladanuel Jordan, the top-ranked Yellow Jackets held off Murrah 44-41 in a key Region 2-7A matchup on Friday night.
“It was one of those nights where it seemed like we couldn’t make a lay-up, but it was (great) to see the fight in the guys to find a way to win on the road in a tough environment,” said Starkville coach Anthony Carlyle. “It was a tough game all night and Murrah is a lot better this year and they play hard.”
Murrah jumped out to a 9-4 lead to begin the game, but the Yellow Jackets ended the quarter on a 7-2 run to tie the game up at 11-11 at the end of the opening period.
In the second quarter, the Mustangs outscored Starkville 12-7 to take a 23-18 halftime lead. Xavier Thompson scored eight points for Murrah in the quarter.
The second half was all about Jordan. In the third quarter Jordan scored Starkville’s first seven points to tie the game up 25-25. The Jackets outscored Murrah 16-7 in the frame to take a 34-30 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Ethan Jones hit a three-pointer with just over four minutes remaining to give Murrah a 41-38 lead, but Jordan made three consecutive lay-ups, including the go-ahead lay-up with 3:02 left, to give Starkville the 44-41 lead.
With 24 seconds left Starkville turned the ball over on an inbound pass, but Murrah’s last-second shot fell short.
“This game was about different styles of matchups. We have size and they have guards, so it’s which team can create an advantage,” Carlyle said. “They utilize their undersized guys and quickness to put us at a disadvantage and we made a few adjustments and did enough to get out of here with a win. We needed a game like this.”
Jordan finished with a game-high 18 points to lead Starkville (19-1, 4-0 Region 2-7A), including 15 points in the second half.
“First half they out hustled us and everything, so in the second half we came back stronger, passing the ball and crashing hard on the boards and getting second chance points,” Jordan said. “When we started crashing hard, we kept getting more opportunities.”
Jones had 13 points to lead Murrah, while Cleo Nichols added 11 points and Xavier Thompson added 10 points for the Mustangs (15-5, 3-1).
“Their bigs killed us on the boards, especially on the offensive end. That was one of the main things that hurt us in the second half,” said Murrah coach Jeremy Caldwell. “Super proud of the guys for how they were prepared and ready to play and step up to the challenge against Starkville. We showed that we belong and turned the corner and are a completely different team than we were last year.”
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