Jaden Tate, Starkville hold off Madison Central 41-39 to take control in Region 2-7A
MADISON — The Starkville Yellowjackets are getting hot at the right time, and after Wednesday night, need just one more win to rap up Region 2-7A.
Jaden Tate stole the ball and dished it to Sanchez Brooks for an easy lay-up with 1:14 left in the fourth quarter to give Starkville the lead, and the Yellowjackets held on for a 41-39 win over Madison Central in a critical Region 2-7A contest on Wednesday night.
The Jackets (16-9) and Jaguars (17-9) both came into Wednesday night's tilt at 7-1 in Region 2-7A. Starkville now sits alone atop the standings at 8-1.
“Just another dog fight in this region," Starkville coach Woody Howard said. "Both teams made a bunch of mistakes, and just at the end we were able to make a shot. We end up getting a tip-steal, threw it back and got a lay-up to take the lead. So it just happened, things fell our way at the end.”
Both teams close out the regular season and Region 2-7A play on Friday as Starkville travels to Tupelo, while Madison Central hosts Clinton. If Starkville wins, they’ll clinch the No. 1 seed, however if they lose and Madison Central wins then the Jaguars will clinch the top spot heading into the district tournament next week at Germantown.
Wednesday night's first half was fairly even. The two teams played to a 12-12 tie in the first quarter thanks to a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Madison Central's star Dylan Rowe.
After Starkville took a 19-16 lead to start the third quarter, the Jaguars closed it a 9-2 run to take a 25-21 lead at halftime.
The second half was a defensive slugfest.
The Jaguars went on a 7-0 run midway through the third quarter to extend their lead to 34-26, but the Yellowjackets responded with a 9-0 run to take a 35-34 lead following a three-pointer by Tate with a minute left.
Spudd Parker hit a mid-range jump shot to give the Jaguars a 36-35 lead at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, with Madison Central up 39-38 and in possession, Tate jumped in front of a pass for the steal and found Brooks in transition to put the Jackets ahead for good. Brooks also made one-of-two free throws with 21 seconds left to stretch the lead to 41-39.
A traveling call with three seconds left sealed the win for Starkville.
“Road wins are definitely hard to come by," Howard said. "Especially in this league and with us being a young team, but we've won all our region games on the road so far. I'm proud of the guys for fighting and hanging in there and getting a tough win on the road.”
Tate had a game-high 22 points to lead Starkville.
“We always preach just to guard and the offense is going to come," Tate said. "And that was a big play I felt hot coming out in the second half and hit some shots, and the defense was strong tonight in the second half.”
Dylan Rowe had 14 points to lead Madison Central, despite leaving the game in the third quarter with an injury after a hard fall underneath the goal.
“We had trouble finding ways to score (after Rowe went down)," Madison Central coach Ben Gardner said. "And against a good defensive team like Starkville, we had critical turnovers. It was a really good ball game, but we got to get some key guys healthy and get ready for district tournament.”
