Lady Vols start, finish strong in win
With each game, Starkville Academy is starting to become the team that first-year head coach Colleen Roberts wants them to be.
There were times on Tuesday night against Choctaw County that things got stagnant, but a solid start and stronger finish washed all of that away. In the end, it was a dominating effort by the Lady Volunteers as they knocked off the Lady Chargers 61-24.
The first quarter was a good one for Starkville Academy on both ends of the floor as it hit some high percentage shots and raced out to an 18-5 lead.
Roberts didn’t like the nature of the second quarter, however. The Lady Vols were able to build on that lead, but it didn’t execute the same way as the first quarter and it was a point of emphasis at halftime.
“I thought we struggled some in the second quarter and we made some adjustments at halftime,” Roberts said. “We tried some new things that we haven’t tried before and that was a new experience for us. I’m really proud that we did a lot of different things and we have some momentum to move forward.”
Starkville Academy gave up 12 points in the second half and scored 22 points in the fourth quarter alone to roll to the win and move to 5-4 this season. Hannah Carper led the way for the Lady Vols in the victory with 14 points, while Marin Shy finished with 11 points herself.
The Lady Chargers had 14 points from Destinee Love in the loss. The team has been coached on an interim basis by Choctaw County Athletic Director Jim Wood the last several weeks.
For the Lady Vols, they’re getting set to take on Canton Academy on Thursday and even tougher competition on the way next week against
Hartfield Academy.
Roberts sees a team that is growing every single day and the production that she’s getting beyond the starters has been the key.
“It’s been really nice because there isn’t one dominant player,” Roberts said. “We didn’t know coming in if there would be a dominant player on our team so we told everybody that they had to defend, score and have a role. We’ve got to find our strengths and use them and hide our weaknesses. It’s really been nice because everybody on my bench contributes to our wins and that’s a fun team to be on.”