started a fire

I couldn’t help but notice Mississippi State head coach Rick Stansbury get ejected while playing Ole Miss the other day, and bless pat &045; the Bulldogs caught fire.

Of course, the Bulldogs did it &8220;for Coach Stansbury,&8221; but there was more motivation there than that. Hey, that was Ole Miss the Dogs were playing.

Actually, State eventually turned the game into a rout, explaining why the final score was 80-56. The Bullies stood at 19-1 when Humphrey Coliseum quieted down with them on the long end.

Coach Stansbury’s ejection was the first in the six seasons he’s led the Bulldogs. Maybe it lit a fire under State. Whatever, the victory put MSU 1 1/2 games ahead of Kentucky in the overall SEC standings and two games ahead of LSU in the Western Division.

State just might be arriving. Very much not expected. You can bet Ole Miss thought it would win. But the Rebs fell before what they’re saying was the largest crowd ever to watch a basketball game in Mississippi &045; 10,745.

Not that State or Ole Miss are expected to crush all corners in the conference, but funny things happen within their league.

Clarion-Ledger sportswriter Rick (I like to call him Ricky) Cleveland surmised that the bottom line was that the Bulldogs kept their composure. Rick, son of one of my best writing friends ever &045; the late Robert &8220;Ace&8221; Cleveland &045; has a good handle on sports, so I’ll take his word for it.

Ole Ace, what a good buddy. He was from Hattiesburg and was Hattiesburg all the way. Back when I used to cover sports events on the road for The Democrat, I spent several nights in the press box with Ace. He was covering for the Hattiesburg American, and I was on assignment for The Democrat. We were buddies, we were.

Hurried Hash &045; A long time ago (1949 to be exact), Natchez High and Hattiesburg tied up in a basketball game I never forgot. The score was tied 6-6 after the first quarter, but coach A.I. Rexinger’s Rebels took over after that. If you can take a little more roundball, Fred Foster was in his heyday then at NHS, and he quietly led the Rebels with 15 points. But his all-around play and leadership was the difference. That was back in the days when Vicksburg, Hattiesburg, Greenwood and Tupelo were right up there with NHS. They would beat you.

I remember Vicksburg and Jackson clashed in one of the best defensive basketball games I ever saw. The Greenies won 35-34 in overtime. It was 31-31 at the end of regulation. My old book shows Vicksburg making nine of 20 free throws. Jackson didn’t shoot but 10, canned six.

I like to look at some of these old scorebooks now and then. Billy Allgood was a real star with Jackson Central but mainly with his ball-handling and leading flashing and dashing teammates. Basketball, man, basketball.

The book shows Jackson Central was 18-5 at that time and Vicksburg was 10-8. Allgood, though, was held to six points that night Jackson lost, and nobody scored more than 10. I was right there for The Democrat, ready to call it in.

Glenvall Estes is a longtime columnist for The Natchez Democrat.