Providing a spark
Senior Rush delivers with big shots to help Lady Vols win
Rush Brown doesn’t mind doing whatever is needed for the Starkville Academy girls basketball team to win games.
The senior always has the consistency on the defensive end but offense isn’t what she’s known to have.
When things weren’t going the way of the Lady Volunteers on Tuesday night, she made the baskets when they were needed.
Brown connected on a couple of big 3-point shots down the stretch to help Starkville Academy to another District 2-AAA win. It was a 39-26 defensive battle over Winston Academy with all of Brown’s points making a difference.
“I’m a senior, so I consider myself a team leader,” Brown said. “I consider myself a defensive leader and a rebounder. I was shooting a lot more and they just fell.”
The Lady Vols (16-10, 5-1 District 2-AAA) held Winston to 11-of-41 (26 percent) shooting in the game. They only shot 10-of-35 (28 percent) themselves but forced 14 turnovers.
“I want to credit Winston because their defense is outstanding,” Starkville Academy coach Bruce Allsup said. “They’re long, they’re athletic and they’re strong. They knocked us out of it a little bit and it took us a half to get going. They’ve got us out-sized, but I was very pleased with how we defended them.”
Along with Brown in double figures was Mary Peyton Passons, who led the way with 13 but on 3-of-10 shooting. She also had a team-high six rebounds.
Things were tight in the game through the first half and Winston led 6-5 after one quarter. The Lady Vols
put the clamps down in the second and third quarters ending the first half on a 6-0 run for a 15-11 lead. They outscored the Lady Patriots 13-7 in the third thanks to six points from Brown and it was suddenly 28-18 and was insurmountable for the Lady Pats.
Winston did cut it to nine points with 5 minutes left, but Passons hit back-to-back 3-pointers to close it out.
The victory was the 12th in the last 13 games for the Lady Vols, who now set up a potential district championship on Thursday night against Leake Academy.
Brown said that Starkville Academy is a “different team” than when the two teams met several weeks ago and the Lady Vols lost the game.
Allsup feels the same way. He’s confident that his girls will give themselves a chance.
“Leake has been the dominant girls basketball team for years, but I’m going to be disappointed if we don’t have a chance to win,” Allsup said. “I expect our girls to have a will to win and show up to play Leake Academy on Thursday night.”
The Vols already-thin roster took a hit again on Tuesday with two players out for the game, including Raegan Richardson. They blew away district rival Winston despite that.
Four players were in double figures for Starkville Academy (14-5, 4-2) led by Trey Tyler with 18. Brady Richardson had 15 points and eight assists and Noah Methvin had 12.
Taylor Ray was the surprise of the night for the Vols. Taking advantage of earning the starting spot in Raegan Richardson’s absence, Ray had 14 points in the game on 6-of-10 shooting and was a rebound shy of a double-double.
“Taylor Ray was big for us tonight,” Allsup said. “The boy can play. He’s a sophomore he’s just got to get in there. I feel confident that he can give us some good minutes off the bench.”
Starkville Academy led 15-8 after one quarter but went on an 11-3 run to go up by double digits. The Vols never looked back from there.