The McComb Tigers stepped out of Region 7-4A play Monday and traveled to Mississippi College to take on Madison-Ridgeland Academy in the “Rumble in the South” Martin Luther King Jr. Day showcase.
The Tigers took down the Patriots 78-57 to improve their record on the year to an impressive 16-1. The loss dropped Madison-Ridgeland to 17-7 this season.
“We had been winning this year, but we really hadn’t been gelling as a team like I’d have liked us to. (Monday) we began to gel as a team on the court, we began to play together,” McComb head coach Hilton Harrell said. “Guys like (Antonio) Cowart, (Emanuel) Thompson, (KaDarron) Mason, everyone began playing better together.”
Harrell chose to sit Cowart, McComb’s super sophomore and lone starter outside its senior class, to open the game, giving Cowart an opportunity to watch some of the action before entering the lineup. Harrell’s strategy paid off, as Cowart dropped a team-high 17 points on the Patriots.
“I think it helped giving him a chance to watch things on the floor for a few minutes before getting out there,” Harrell said.
The Tigers jumped out to a 19-9 lead through one quarter and never looked back. The Patriots played the Tigers even in the second quarter, maintaining the 10-point deficit heading into the break.
McComb outscored MRA by 11 in the third quarter, extending its lead to 21 points and erasing any chance of a Patriots comeback.
The two teams traded baskets in an inconsequential final quarter.
Thompson and senior center Stacey Mack each registered 13 points in the victory, while guard Antonio Johnson also scored in double figures with 10 points.
The Tigers will return to Region 7-4A action Tuesday night when the Purvis Tornadoes come to the Tiger Den. The Tornadoes will enter Tuesday’s action with a 5-11 record, including an 0-3 record in district play.
Purvis is led by junior guard David Davis, who leads the team with more than 28 points and two steals per game.
While the win in Clinton was sweet, Harrell knows the importance of region games at this point in the season. With less than a month remaining in the regular season, teams will begin jockeying for position in the Region 7-4A standings, all preparing for a potential postseason run.
That’s why Harrell called the second-half of McComb’s back-to-back games a “critical game” for the Tigers, who have jumped out to a perfect 3-0 start in the region.
“We always know district games are important games,” Harrell said of Tuesday’s showdown with Purvis. “We won (Monday), but we have to stay focused to win again Tuesday. That’s another important game for us.”
