MADISON — Mike Williams was a one-man show.
The Jackson State signee poured in a game-high 25 points to help lead Germantown over Starkville, 50-42, in a top-5 Region 2-7A showdown on Wednesday night.
The Mavericks (20-4, 6-0 Region 2-7A) were coming off their first in-state loss of the season on Monday at the Rumble In The South, falling to Pascagoula, 74-69.
“I thought Monday that loss got the guys refocused going into this last stretch of district play,” said Germantown coach Christopher Love. “I got a couple text messages from the guys yesterday saying they were ready, and Mike was one of those guys. He showed out tonight and just kept attacking, wanting the ball, and was unstoppable.”
Starkville jumped out to a 11-3 lead to begin the game and held a 13-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter is when Williams got going. Germantown opened the quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 15-13 lead, with Williams scoring eight of those 10 points and 13 total in the quarter. Starkville followed that run with an 8-0 run to take a 21-15 lead, but Williams hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the Yellow Jacket lead to 21-20 at halftime.
In the third quarter, after David Washington hit a midrange shot to give Starkville a 25-22 lead, Germantown went on an 11-0 run to take a 33-25 lead. The Yellow Jackets did go on a quick 6-1 run to end the quarter, cutting the Mavericks lead to 34-31 heading into the final stanza.
Germantown scored five points to begin the fourth quarter and stretch their lead to 39-31. From that point, every time Starkville cut into the lead, Williams and the Mavericks had an answer.
Mason Williams’ three-point play with just over a minute to go gave Germantown a 48-38 lead and sealed the game.
“One thing that we always lean our hat on is defense. We started off slow on offense, but defended really well,” Love said. “Big district win tonight and got another big (one) Friday night. It’s a tough week, but a week where you see where you really are.”
Washington had 17 points to lead Starkville, while T.J. Warren added 11 points for the Yellowjackets (18-6, 4-3).
“The thing that they do well is get out in transition and get a lot of easy buckets and second-chance points,” said Starkville coach Anthony Carlyle. “That was some of the things we talked about and tried to eliminate, and we did in spots, but not consistently enough. Margin of error against a team like that is very slim. We will be fine, we’ve seen some things that work and some things we need to work on.”
Both teams continue Region 2-7A play on Friday night as Germantown hosts Madison Central, while Starkville travels to Clinton.
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