Coming off of a heartbreaking 51-50 loss on their home court to East Marion, the Columbia Wildcats rebounded with a decisive win over Northeast Jones last week before their matchup with South Pike was cancelled due to the snow Friday.
While the final scoreboard last Tuesday showed a 12-point margin, the Wildcats far outplayed the 58-46 final score. They carried a 22-point lead into the fourth quarter before resting many of their regulars.
The Wildcats got off to a great start and led 16-2 at the end of the first quarter, a run fueled by their effort on the less glamorous end.
“First and foremost, we got off to a great start defensively,” head coach Charlie James said. “That led to some easy transition baskets that really helped continue to feed our defense. That was the biggest thing that encouraged me — the way we defended and rebounded the ball early. That got us going. Once the kids were able to get some easy buckets and see they could get score off of their defense, it actually helped the defense pick up even more.”
TJ Monroe led Columbia with 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists and has shown he may very well be the best pure scorer in Marion County. Monroe is at his best driving to the rim and gets to the charity stripe a ton, but he also has a nice stroke from deep and is the epitome of a three-level scorer.
James believes that Monroe’s ability to get the Wildcats a basket in a pinch is invaluable to Columbia’s offense, but it’s what he does in practice and before games that separates him.
“TJ is doing an outstanding job for us. He’s one of those kids that can get a bucket in many different ways, and we count on him to score,” he said. “There’s times in the game that he just has to be the focal point, and he’s thriving in that role. He’s a great kid, first and foremost, who really works hard at being a basketball player. The way he comes in and prepares himself helps him more than anything. If you work hard and prepare yourself, the game is actually easy. His ability on top of that is icing on the cake.”
Like many high school basketball teams, the Wildcats are still integrating many of their players who spend their fall on the gridiron. Three of which — Javen Moses, Kentrel Bullock and Rafael Luter — had their best game of the season against Northeast Jones, which is a promising sign for Columbia moving forward.
“They’re starting to be able to understand what we’re doing,” James said. “Basketball is a different type of conditioning, and they’re starting to get more in tune with their basketball conditioning and get comfortable.”
Luter had 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and six rebounds, while Bullock added eight points off the bench on a perfect 4-of-4 night from the floor. Moses, a point guard, shined the brightest of the trio with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including going 2-of-3 from deep, with four assists and three rebounds.
While Nick Averett is the Wildcats’ starting point guard, James is able to take advantage of his perimeter shooting more when he shares the court with Moses.
“Javen is playing some point guard, so the more in tune and comfortable he gets with the offense and what we’re doing, that will make us that much better,” James said. “That will give us three primary ball handlers with him, TJ and Nick.”
Columbia graduated six seniors last year, including three starters, but none of those losses have been more evident than the loss of Lonnie Bass, who was the team’s lone big man. Bass may have only averaged 8.6 points per game, but his rebounding and defense were crucial to the Wildcats going 12-0 in district play last season.
Though the Wildcats have an impressive seven players of 13 on their roster who stand at least 6-foot-2, only one of those seven is actually taller than 6-foot-2 and is a true big. That would be eighth-grader Jaheim Oatis, who is slowly earning more and more minutes as he gets into basketball shape while earning James’ trust.
He has flashed his talent at times in every game this season, but James believes Oatis’ defensive work against Northeast Jones was his best of the young season.
“Jaheim, as an eighth-grader, is really doing a great job for us. I would say when Jaheim is on the floor, defensively we’re better because he is that anchor in the back. We’re able to do a lot more on the perimeter because we have someone that’s protecting the rim,” he explained. “Against Northeast Jones, he looked a lot more comfortable. Once we get him in some decent basketball shape, you will see more of him as he gains experience. At times, our defense is a lot better when he’s on the floor.”
If Oatis can continue to make strides as the anchor of Columbia’s defense, the Wildcats could begin to take off and play a lot like they did last season.
The Wildcats were on the road Tuesday night at North Forrest, but results were unavailable at press time. They will return to their home court next Tuesday, hosting Petal at 7 p.m.
Pictured Above: TJ Monroe drills a three-pointer. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
