By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Sitting at 3-1 in District 13-3A on the morning of Jan. 26, the Munford Cougars woke up with a desire to prove they are one of the best teams in the league.
First-year Head Coach Nic Buford didn’t have to remind his boys about the task coming to the Munford Gymnasium that evening. All the Cougars remembered the 83-63 loss up at Dyer County earlier in the season.
The Choctaws made the trip to Tipton County and ran into a buzz saw courtesy of Cougars Michael Lee and Levi Poindexter. The duo rained three-pointers down on the Dyer County defense leading to a 73-57 win and piece of revenge for the Cougars.
“It’s a great thing for our young men and the program in this first year,” Buford said. “The kids were looking forward to this game because of what happened up there the first time and how it turned out. They were motivated and it added fuel to the fire.”
Munford improved to 4-1 in league play with the 16-point win over the Choctaws. Buford noted a couple of changes made a 36-point swing in the outcome.
“This win is a big confidence booster,” he noted. “The biggest difference was a couple of things. We switched up things defensively and we are just continuing to progress. The thing about a this season, a basketball season it’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon. You’re always trying to find your groove. And we’re finding our grove.”
Lee was in a groove in the first half with multiple three-pointers coming from all different spots on the court. Point guard Keenan Thompson would locate Lee racing down the court.
Or post player Javaris Tolton would kick it out to Lee for the open shot.
Other teammates like Shane Cox, Murray Norman, Jordan Bell and Cam Smith worked the ball around offensively helping the second phase of Munford’s turnaround.
“Then knocking down shots was huge for us,” Buford noted. It eases the flow of the game and you won’t be under so much pressure. Those shots helped us knock down the door. Mike, Mr. Lee, missed his first shot. But once the hit that second shot, it was like the rim got wider for him.”
Then Munford’s other perimeter threat Levi Poindexter kept the Dyer County defense honest by hitting a couple of treys before the conclusion of the first half.
But the man running the show and changed the pace of the Munford offense in the second half was senior guard Thompson. The facilitator changed the direction of the game plan by locating Tolton and Bell in the low post.
“He’s a very, very important part to this,” Buford said of Thompson. “He’s one of the keys to what we’re doing. His motor is awesome. And the biggest thing he brings to us is composure. His on the court presence under pressure gives us a great shot.”
Tolton dominated the boards and got a few buckets in the first half. After Tolton when out for a quarter because of injury, Bell was the force for Munford collecting rebounds. He was rewarded with passes inside leading to layups.
Throughout the fourth quarter, Dyer County employed the Hack-A-Cougar method to extend the game. Thompson, Tolton and other made enough free throws to earn the crucial victory and stay in the hunt for the No. 1 seed.
Finishing first this year is more crucial than in years past because the entire district and Regional tournaments will be via satellite.
“We’ll let them know up front,” Buford said. “The coaching staff and I made a promise to be honest and upfront with the kids. This is a different year, the COVID season. We’ll keep it “100” as the kids say.
“We’ll tell them how important it is to get the higher seed and be at home,” he concluded. “But if we lose one here or there, it’s not the end all, be all. The world will go on and the sun will come up the next day Lord’s willing. But we would like to have those games here.”
