TJ Monroe has already proven he’s one of the best players in the area over the past season-and-a-half, but he took his game to another level on the Wildcats home court last Tuesday night.
Monroe notched a career-high in points, rebounds, assists and blocks, going off for 28 points on 8-of-13 shooting, 12 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and three steals. He even made 11-of-12 free throws, leading Columbia to a 77-61 win over Jefferson Davis County and a 2-0 start in district play.
Nick Averett added 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Jaheim Oatis and Kentrel Bullock each chipped in eight points on identical 4-of-5 shooting nights from the field.
But while the Jeff Davis game may have been Monroe’s best performance to that point, he more than bested it Friday night at Wesson and set new career highs in points and rebounds, going off for an absurd 32 points, 20 rebounds and six assists.
“He’s playing some unbelievable basketball right now,” head coach Charlie James said. “I’ve just asked him to be more aggressive, go out and play and do what he does. He’s played amazing basketball these last three games. Clearly he’s our go-to guy. He’s accepted that role, and I couldn’t be more proud of his performance.”
The Wildcats needed every bit of Monroe’s heroics as they let a 20-point lead slip through their fingers, yet found a way to win in overtime, 76-74, improving to 3-0 in district and 7-8 on the season.
“We just kind of let them back in the game,” James said. “They had their home crowd, and once they took the lead it went back and forth. One of the things I’m most proud of is my kids didn’t quit. Even after they surrendered the lead, they kept fighting. I told them to just keep playing, and we were fortunate enough in overtime to outscore them to take the win. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Wesson tied it back up late in the fourth quarter, then Monroe came back down the court and put the Wildcats back up two with a layup. However, Wesson answered with a bucket of their own with 2.2 seconds left to send it to overtime.
In overtime, Columbia controlled the game and had a 5-point lead as the final seconds ticked away, but Wesson drilled a three-pointer as time expired to make it 76-74, giving the appearance of a close overtime game that went down to the wire.
“In overtime, TJ made some plays. Jaheim had a big game. Javen (Moses) made some plays early in the game, so it was just an overall group effort with TJ leading the way,” James said.
Oatis had a career-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting with six rebounds, and Averett added 11 points, three assists and two steals. Bullock, who is shooting an otherworldly 76 percent on the season, had seven points on 3-of-3 shooting and seven rebounds.
The Wildcats ran the table last season in Class 4A Region 7 with a 12-0 record, including winning the district tournament on their home court, and are off to a great start in Class 3A Region 8 this season.
“It’s always good to start off 3-0 because that gives you a leg up,” James said. “Tylertown is 3-0 as well, so that game will have a lot of implications riding on it. It’s always good when you start off 3-0 because it gives you a chance to have some shortcomings if you happen to have some. It gives you confidence as well going forward. Right now, they’re riding high and having some fun, so I’m hoping it can carry over.”
While Columbia has gotten off to a perfect start in district so far, James knows the Wildcats will need to get more consistent and not let teams get back into games like Wesson did Friday night.
“From my experience from being in those type of games, one of those things that’s causing us to relinquish leads like that is some of the young guys not understanding the situation and their roles. The only thing, as a coach, I think that helps that is experience,” he said. “Once those guys — Daquan (Ball), Javen, Jaheim — get more experience, they’ll understand in those types of situations what needs to take place. We just made some errant passes and decisions that veteran guys don’t make. Hopefully as we play, the more they are involved in those type of minutes the more they’ll understand what they need to do.”
The Wildcats will be on their home court Friday night, hosting Seminary (6-10, 1-2) with tipoff scheduled for 7:30.
Pictured Above: TJ Monroe rises through traffic for a double-clutch, reverse layup against Jeff Davis. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
