Vols give strong effort against tough Patriots
In terms of wins and losses, Friday night's boys basketball game between Starkville Academy and Madison-ridgeland Academy had nothing on the line.
The game didn't determine seeding in any postseason tournament and wasn't played for any championships, but it meant something to the Volunteers. It meant something to seniors Taylor Ray and Tanner Graves, who were playing their senior night games and it meant something to the rest of the team as they prepared themselves for the stretch run in postseason play.
From start to finish, Starkville Academy was playing up to its competition against the talented Patriot team. The Vols had a lead into the third quarter, but MRA managed to go on a run in the second half and take control. Starkville Academy gave a final effort in the fourth quarter but came up short 66-55.
“You take away the third quarter and I'm not sure we don't win the game,” Vols head coach Bill Ball said. “We're not into moral victories, but we need to see that kind of effort because for the remainder of the season we hope we're playing in a ball game like that.”
The third quarter, unfortunately, was a big one in the outcome. Starkville Academy held a 28-27 halftime lead in what was a back and forth first half and was hanging in midway through the third frame.
That's when MRA took off on a 16-3 run over the course of the final 3 minutes to take control of the game and went up 52-37.
Though they fell behind by 15 points, the Vols wouldn't go away. They went on a run of their own to cut the lead to 58-52 on a three-point play by Jawon Yarbrough, but a key sequence finished them off. A steal turned into a charge on one end and MRA came down and got a three-point play of its own to push the lead back to nine points with only 3 minutes to play and presented a scenario Starkville Academy could not come back from.
Yarbrough was especially big in the game. The reigning Starkville Daily News Athlete of the Week was strong yet again scoring 24 points and notching 10 of those in the first quarter as the Vols trailed just 14-12.
“I knew that was a good team and we had to keep them close the rest of the ball game,” Yarbrough said. “We just couldn't hold them off, but we'll see them again in the state playoffs. We've got to play a lot smarter, take care of the ball and hit free throws. We can only get better from here.”
It's a good sign to Ball that his team recognizes areas where they can improve, but he's also proud of where they are right now as a team.
The Vols (17-7) have won seven of the last nine games with the two losses coming to two of the state's top teams in Heritage Academy and MRA. They're going into next week's district tournament at Lamar School with an 8-2 record in district play and the No. 2 seed. Ball thought Friday night kept them on track.
“I see a continuation which is good,” Ball said. “We played Heritage really well and at East Rankin and we continued that effort (Friday). The halfcourt trap really got us in the third quarter, but I thought our guys really competed. They made just enough plays and we had some timely turnovers.”