Prater delivers in big moments for Jackets

As the clock ticked under 10 seconds against Olive Branch, Forte Prater knew where the outcome was headed.

It was the Class 6A State playoff quarterfinals and the Starkville Yellow Jackets had to come back from double digits in the second half to have a chance. Tied at 63 with the final seconds ticking away, Prater drove to the left of the basket and put up a runner that dropped to give the Jackets the lead. It was a cold-blooded bucket that the senior point guard had grown accustomed to making, but it didn't come overnight.

Just two years prior, Prater was on the SHS B team. He watched as Tyson Carter and then Jordan Temple handled their business at the guard position and as an even younger player, remembered former Jacket guard Edward Townsel won a state championship.

Those players helped make him what he would become.

“It was frustrating and really hard, but it made me a better person and better player,” Prater said of his time on the B team. “I had to work on a lot of decision-making and being a better leader.”

Prater spent every morning during the summer after his sophomore year working with Townsel, who had joined Greg Carter's staff as an assistant coach. Townsel taught him everything he knew about basketball and being a point guard and it started resonating with Prater. When talent and leadership converged, he was ready to roll.

After getting playing time a year ago in the SHS run to another state championship, Prater was taking over the point guard role this year and he was primed for his moment. He brought everything to the table for Carter. Prater could shoot the long ball, he could get to the rim and finish with authority, he could pass and he could defend.

Possessing the entire package and for leading his team to the Class 6A title, Prater was chosen the Starkville Daily News High School Boys Player of the Year.

That game-winner against Olive Branch wasn't the first. He also beat Center Hill in overtime in another come-from-behind win in the Rumble in the South. In the state championship win over Murrah, Prater scored 19 points and was the Most Valuable Player.