Jackets know what it’s like to claim titles at Big House
Over the years, Greg Carter has been at the Mississippi Coliseum so often he could probably carve out a living space in the concourse.
It doesn’t really matter the personnel, the size the ability or the experience, the Starkville Yellow Jackets are almost always in the running for a state championship. In the last five years, SHS has played in four state championships and won three of those and Carter is hoping to do the same thing this year.
With the pandemic that hit worldwide, the schedule shook up where the championships would be played this year and Mississippi State was unable to host the championship games. That meant for at least this season, the semifinals and finals return to the “Big House” in Jackson, a place where Carter has made many memories with his team and a veteran group this year is hoping to make more.
“I’m real proud of the way that this team has progressed and gotten better as the season has come along,” Carter said. “We’ve gotten a lot better than we were in November and December. It’s rewarding as a coach to see players realize their potential and that’s what coaching is all about.
“To see the players develop on this team, it’s really rewarding. Every year we lose some key seniors, but have new guys step up. They improve each season and embrace their roles. That’s kind of an expectation here.”
The last two state championship runs were with teams that many in the state wouldn’t have picked to win it all going into the season. The Jackets had back-to-back seasons of some big losses in the starting lineup but still found a way to run the table. This year, the group has brought back more senior leadership than either of those teams.
Coltie Young, Jarmarvious Phillips and Eric Green have been the big pieces to return and they’ve carried the team all season, but the surrounding pieces in the starting lineup and the bench truly show how Carter’s program really works.
The Jackets ran through the first two opponents in Madison Central and Olive Branch without a fuss. The first game against the Jaguars saw the second team play most of the second half and maintain that lead. It was a good sign for Carter whose team hadn’t played for two weeks.
“I was concerned going into that Madison Central game that we would be a little rusty and our timing would be off,’ Carter said. “Defensively, we played well, but offensively we missed some shots we normally make. In the second half, we came out on track quickly. We followed up the Olive Branch the same way.”
Now the Jackets (19-2) have two more games to win in order to take home an unprecedented three-straight state championship trophy. Standing in the way first is an 18-3 Oak Grove team that comes in with wins over West Harrison, Terry and Gulfport in the playoffs.
Carter sees a team that won’t dominate on the inside, but it can stay in any game if it gets hot from the outside.
“They have some really good guards and some really good shooters,” Carter said of the Warriors. “They’re not very big, but they offset that by making 3s. It will start on the defensive end for us. If we can defend their guards one-on-one without having to help, it cuts a lot of their offense out. We’ll have to make some shots on the offensive end.”
Game time tonight is set for 8:30 p.m.