It was just one of those nights for McComb forward Cavellis Luckett.
The 6-foot-2-inch Luckett was a perfect 9 of 9 from the field and poured in 21 points in Friday’s 72-60 home win over Natchez.
About the only thing the senior didn’t do right was convert at the foul line, where he was 3 of 11.
At one point during the fourth quarter with the game all but over, Luckett hit nothing but the backboard.
The loud thud led to a few chuckles from his teammates and McComb fans and even produced an innocent smirk from Luckett’s face.
“We had to pray for him. That’s not in our covenant as a basketball team to hit the backboard like that,” joked McComb coach Hilton Harrell after the game. “I said to him we’re going to need a new backboard. That was a Shaq (O’Neal) brick. I said they are going to go Hack-a-Shaq on you.”
Luckett was unstoppable the entire game, scoring all 18 of his field goals in the paint. He also grabbed four rebounds.
“Every game I feel like I have an advantage inside,” Luckett said.
Harrell made a conscious effort to feed Luckett the ball from the moment it was tipped.
Luckett and Roy Bibbs, who had five points and 10 rebounds, are the only two McComb players topping 6-feet.
“We wanted to start from inside out. We really didn’t have an inside presence until Cavellis Luckett came. Now we have that. That’s what I kept preaching the entire game,” Harrell said. “We’ve been taking a lot of 3-point shots, and we are a decent shooting team, but you can’t live and die with that.”
Luckett’s inside play paved the way for the outside shooting of others, mainly sophomore guard Antonio Johnson.
Johnson finished with a game-high 22 points on a sparkling 10 of 14 shooting.
Johnson had only four points on 2 of 3 shooting in the first half, but Harrell made it clear he wants the youngster hoisting up shots.
On several occasions, Harrell called out from the bench for Johnson to not be afraid to shoot the ball.
“He’s been very passive and thinks he has to take it all the time and put it on the floor and drive,” Harrell said. “I told him, ‘I want you to shoot when you get an open look, I don’t want you to be passive. I want you to shoot the ball.’ ”
Johnson listened and made the most of the green light from Harrell. He finished with 18 second-half points to slam the door shut on Natchez (4-4).
McComb (3-6) avenged a 64-60 loss to Natchez it suffered earlier this season at the Brookhaven Tournament.
At the time, Harrell didn’t have his entire team intact, including Luckett, because football season had just ended.
“It shows how much we have matured,” Harrell said. “Tonight we saw chemistry and development. It’s taking a little time to feel out where people are going to play.”
Natchez came out firing in the first quarter, jumping out to a 17-8 lead. The Bulldogs couldn’t miss in the first eight minutes, hitting 6 of their first 8 shots.
McComb used a 9-0 run to start the second quarter and led 33-32 at the half.
Harrell cited his use of a 1-3-1 defense to stifle Natchez for the rest of the game.
In the first meeting between the two, McComb was forced to play man-to-man, which Natchez exploited heavily.
“I knew that would stop their shooting because I have guys on the perimeter who could disrupt them,” Harrell said. “It took them out of their rhythm and they got discombobulated.”
The defense helped force 21 Natchez turnovers. Johnson was particularly active at the top of the zone, recording four steals himself.
McComb’s offense was nearly as giving, however. The Tigers turned the ball over 25 times, but the Bulldogs were never able to truly capitalize.
Harrell again attributed the sloppy play to his team not being accustomed to play quite yet.
He still considers it a work in progress.
“We are probably up around 75 percent of the whole system,” he said. “They haven’t done it enough to it to come natural.”
McComb guard Deonte Evans registered a solid performance with nine points and nine rebounds and Quartavious Smith chipped in with 12 points five rebounds five assists and two steals.
DeArius Griffin led Natchez with 18 points, but only five of those came in the second half.
