All Taylorsville had to compete with the reigning 2A champs was five starters and a sub.
As it turned out, those six players were all Taylorsville needed to knock off Bay Springs 90-83 Tuesday night in Region 5-2A hoops.
"Bay Springs, the defending champs, is a great ball team," said Taylorsville boys head coach Brandon Jennings. "As far as my guys, I really don't know what to say. They traveled to a very good North Forrest team the other day and was able to score 80 points and pull off a win. Tonight we put up 90 [points]. Those guys are a coach's dream.
"They played as a team, moved the basketball down the court, played unselfishly, and were good defensively. To those six players, I can't say enough good things about them."
All five starters posted double-digits in the win.
"Our bench guy, Chanton McCray, came in and played fantastic defense against two of the best scorers in 2A," said Jennings. "McCray came in and contributed, and my starting five, I mean just hats off to all of those guys. This was a team win, and Saturday [against North Forrest] was a team win."
Junior guard Jeffery Pittman led the team with 24 points.
Taylorsville's Jeffery Pittman dunks the ball against Bay Springs Tuesday night.
“Jeffery is more than just a good running back [on the football field], added Jennings. “He can play a little basketball as well. He rebounded well too.”
The other starters, Ty Keyes, Tyrese Keyes, Hunter Lee, and Zarian McGill scored 19, 14, 10, and 10, respectively. McCray came off the bench and scored four.
The lead changed hands eight times in the contest. A basket by Lee with 3:07 to go in the third period accounted for the final lead change. Taylorsville grew the lead to 16, 64-48, at one point.
Bay Springs pulled within as many as one, 71-70, midway through the final period but were unable to overtake the Tartars.
Taylorsville expanded its lead to a comfortable margin late and capped an eight-point victory.
With only six players against a full Bay Springs roster, Jennings talked about how his team didn’t let numbers play the deciding factor.
"That's something we have to continue to work on," added Jennings, "stalling the basketball, making smart decisions, and contesting threes. We've been working on that [as of late] and something we'll continue to work on, especially with the numbers we have left so we can match up with teams at the end. Our guys are playing hard, and that is all I can ask for."
Taylorsville improves to 14-5 overall and 5-2 in Region 5-2A. Bay Springs falls to 11-11 and 4-3 in region play.
"If we can finish out the next three games," said Jennings, "we'll be the No. 2 seed in the district tournament. If so, we'll get a first game bye and be guaranteed a playoff spot."
