Lady Vols pick up win at buzzer

There are not many options for a basketball team with .07 seconds remaining on the clock.

It was enough time on Tuesday night for Starkville Academy sophomore guard Abby O'neal to find junior Lillee Alpe for the winning points as the Lady Volunteers defeated the Lamar School Lady Raiders 39-37.

Starkville Academy coach Bill Ball knew there wasn't much time and his team had to get something quick.

“I told (Alpe) it had to be out of her hands and it was,” Ball said. “Our girls went out and executed flawlessly.”

Ball said there were a couple of back picks on the play that were supposed to cause some confusion for Lamar's defense.

It created enough space underneath for Alpe, who banked the winning shot home just before the final buzzer sounded.

O'neal said the play was designed to go to Alpe the whole time and all she had to do was find her.

“I knew if we executed, it would be there,” O'neal said.

“We drew it up. (Ball) said go out, execute it and we did.”

It was a close game throughout between the Lady Vols and Lady Raiders.

Starkville Academy held a four-point lead twice in the first half at 11-7 with 1:20 remaining in the first quarter and again at 18-14 at the 2:54 mark of the second quarter.

Lamar had a slim 19-18 edge at halftime, while the Lady Vols were up 32-31 after three quarters.

Caroline Wood hit a basket to open the fourth quarter and added a free throw in the last 2 minutes to help Starkville Academy stay close. She was the leading scorer with 16 points.

“I'm so proud of Caroline inside,” Ball said. “She had a couple of rebounds and a ton of free throws to secure this win.”

Meri Laci Archer also scored in double digits for the Lady Vols with 12 points.

It was the sixth-straight victory for Starkville Academy, which now has a 14-7 record overall and 5-1 mark in Class 4A-district 2 going into Friday night's matchup at Leake Academy.

“Maybe a win like that will mean more down the road than if we'd beat them 10,” Ball said. “Hopefully we can learn from that and get some wins. It's a long season, but we've got a little momentum going.”

In the junior varsity girls game, the Lady Vols won a 3526 decision. Arden Parker had 10 points.

Boys Game