Last Thursday, the Starr’s Mill boys’ varsity basketball team hosted the second round of the state playoffs. The Wayne County Yellow Jackets entered the matchup with a 15-12 record, coming off of a 58-45 win in the first round over Harris County.

Junior Julian Lynch led the Panther offense with 16 points and senior Drew Hudson added another 13.  Starr’s Mill’s all around team effort and strong defense helped propel the Panthers to a win over a difficult Wayne County team. Starr’s Mill has extended the school record for wins in a season and has now made it farther into the playoffs than any previous team.

After tip off, Starr’s Mill opened the game with a quick six-point lead including a three pointer from senior guard Carson Langham. Playing lockdown defense and getting their offense going through Julian Lynch, the Panthers closed out the first quarter with an 11-4 lead.

“Our defense was playing really well for the most part,” head coach Brandon Hutchins said.

The second quarter did not go as well for the Panthers. With under four minutes to go in the half, the Yellow Jackets’ active defense, combined with unnecessary Starr’s Mill fouls, resulted in a run by the visiting team. The Panthers held a narrow three-point lead with less than a minute remaining, but gave up a three pointer just before the buzzer to head to the break tied.

“We’ve struggled throughout the season in the second quarter,” Hutchins said. “We just kept battling.”

In the third, Lynch opened up the scoring with a floater in the first possession for the Panthers. The Yellow Jackets quickly found an answer, scoring on two straight possessions, but Starr’s Mill’s senior guard Jake Bishop prevented the quick swing in momentum by drawing a foul. Off of the inbound, Lynch made an aggressive drive to the basket that resulted in an easy lay in to tie the score.

“We needed to attack their zone,” Bishop said. “We knew we had to score to keep their offense from getting rolling.”

Later in the quarter, Drew Hudson was fouled on a second chance opportunity at the basket, and the Starr’s Mill all-time leading scorer hit both free throws to allow the home team to reclaim the lead. The following Panther possession saw a hot handed Hudson drive and score again. Following free throws that the Yellow Jackets split due to a Starr’s Mill foul, with 16 seconds remaining before the fourth, Bishop beat the buzzer on a mid-range pull up, sending the Panthers into the final quarter with a 32-27 lead.

“We were looking for Drew or Julian, but the ball came back to me,” Bishop said. “I took a quick dribble inside the three point line and saw some space and pulled the trigger on the shot.”

Increasing their five point lead, the Panthers started off the fourth quarter with another Hudson drive that resulted in two more points off of free throws. After a minute of slow offense, Bishop was fouled on the floor. Due to the Yellow Jackets being over the team foul limit, Bishop went to the line for one and one but missed the first. The next possession, Starr’s Mill senior guard Carson Langham intercepted a pass and quickly laid in the fast break on the other end to give the Panthers a 36-31 lead.

“We tried to keep active hands and intense defense throughout the game” Bishop said. “Sometimes making shots is out of our control, but we can always play solid defense.”

Another minute of scoreless play finally ended after Hudson converted an easy lay in. A block call on the Panthers gave Wayne County two free throws, and after splitting the pair, a Lynch steal led to a Hudson lay up and free throw to put Starr’s Mill up 41-34 with 3:10 left in the game. The Yellow Jackets immediately answered with a lay up of their own.

On the following possession, Wayne County fouled Bishop, this time putting him on the line during a double bonus. After making one of the two free throws, the visiting team turned the ball over on a careless pass, and Lynch made a difficult lay up. For the final minute of play, the Yellow Jackets fouled twice to conserve clock, but the Panthers hit three of four foul shots to seal the win 47-36.        

“I tried to score whenever I had a chance in the fourth,” Lynch said. “As a team, we played at our pace and made sure not to let them speed us up.”

The Mill’s next playoff game will be Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. They travel to Hiram High School to face the 22-9 Hornets, a team who defeated Cedar Shoals and Southwest Dekalb in the first two rounds of the AAAAA GHSA State Playoffs.