Starkville girls drop decision to Columbus

SHS guard Brittany Brown brings the basketball up the floor Tuesday night. (Photo by Kim Murrell, SDN)

By DANNY P. SMITH
sdnsports@bellsouth.net [2]

The Starkville Lady Yellowjackets gave coach Kristie Williams the look she wanted in the third quarter Tuesday night.
Unfortunately for the Lady Jackets, basketball is one of those four-quarter sports and they just didn't do enough in the home opener against the No. 8 team in the state.
The Columbus Lady Falcons jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter and went on to defeat Starkville 86-65.
"Columbus showed why they are ranked," Williams said. "They are a great team and they play from start to finish. In order to play big games like that, we have to show up and play four quarters. Unfortunately, we only played three tonight."
The Lady Jackets, who saw their record fall to 1-2, fell behind 30-9 after the first quarter and 48-27 at halftime.
Starkville out-scored the Lady Falcons 23-18 in the third quarter to cut the margin to 66-50.
Columbus regained control and finished strong in taking the 21-point victory.
Williams is concerned with the slow start her squad had against the Lady Falcons and in the previous outing against Meridian.
"The two games mirror each other," Williams said. "(Meridian) jumped out on us early and it was the same thing against Columbus. We've got to be able to fight from start to finish."
Brittany Brown led Starkville with 22 points, while Jacqueline Fair and Janay Townsel also scored in double digits with 10 points each.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Lady Jackets as they travel to Grenada Thursday night. The game was originally scheduled for Friday, but was moved up one day due to SHS participating in the Class 5A football playoffs.