Last Friday, Starr’s Mill pulled out a close victory against Whitewater, 67-62, to end the regular season.
“We are amped up,” head coach Josh Reeves said. ”We feel like this is our season to run it.”
Senior Steven Barros led the team with 16 points. Junior William Robinson added 15 points.
Kaden Thomas led all scorers with 23 points. Fellow Wildcat Kamiron Jones contributed 14 points.
The Starr’s Mill defense started slow, and Whitewater quickly capitalized.. This allowed Whitewater’s Ashton Preston to score 9 points in the first quarter alone. The first quarter ended with a 22-12 lead for Whitewater.
Going into the second quarter, the Panther defense settled in. Starr’s Mill outscored Whitewater 17-12, narrowing the Wildcat lead to five, 34-29.
“We didn’t play our best in the first half,” junior Scott Stevens said. ”In the second [half], we just started playing our brand of basketball.”
In the third quarter, there was a noticeable change. Starr’s Mill began working more as a unit, passing and defending. The Panthers trimmed the Wildcat lead to two going into the final quarter of play.
The fourth quarter was a battle of momentum. Led by Barros scoring 8 in the final quarter, Starr’s Mill took its first lead of the game. They would hold onto that lead and win, 67-62.
“I tell the boys that we control the tempo and our attitude,” Reeves said. “In the second half, we played our tempo.”
As the second seed in the region, Starr’s Mill will play Troup County in the region tournament on February 14. A win will secure the Panthers a spot in the state playoffs for the first time since 2019.