FLOWOOD — Northwest Rankin hasn’t been known for basketball. But it is a work in a progress. Behind the stellar play of Matthew Mackey, the Cougars ran past Quitman 70-55 on Tuesday night. “One thing about to night that scared me was I didn’t know much about Quitman coming, but the Bumpers kid can play. That cat is good,” Northwest Rankin coach Lorenzo Bailey said. “Our guys stepped up when they had to. Mackey knows this is his team even as a sophomore, so he needs to make shots when we need him too.” Mackey, a 6-foot-2 sophomore guard, had a game-high 23 points to lead Northwest Rankin (7-3). “Last year, Mackey started as a freshman and was averaging about five turnovers a game, and I told him then this is his team,” Bailey said. “I think he is starting to get comfortable in taking those big shots, and we need him to, especially in the division we’re in with Madison Central, Murrah and Starkville.” After making the second round of the Class 6A playoffs last year, the Cougars’ motto is to start a legacy, according to Bailey. “Kids are starting to buy in to what we are teaching,” Bailey said. “We didn’t have a winning record and got to the second round last year, and right now we just have to keep doing what we do day by day. Tonight was just about playing hard. Rebound, play defense and run, that was my pregame speech.” DeTrevian Broome added 17 points, while Leo Hartfield chipped in 10 points for Northwest Rankin. The Cougars never trailed, but Quitman kept the game close until the end of the third quarter when standout guard and Jones County Junior College signee Sayveon Bumpers fouled out. After Bumpers was out of the game, Northwest Rankin built a 51-41 lead at the end of the third quarter and would never have the lead cut below 10 points after that. “Once Bumpers fouled, we knew he was their go-to guy, and the game was in our hands,” Bailey said. “Proud of the guys, but we still have a lot of basketball left to be played.” Even with fouling out, Bumpers had 17 points to lead Quitman. John Lacy added 14 points, and Jakobe Arrington chipped in 13 points for the Panthers (4-4). “Foul trouble, and we did not rebound well tonight at all,” Quitman coach Chris Coleman said of his team’s performance. “Northwest Rankin is good, and they were the better team tonight for sure. We’ve got a young team, and we can’t win games without Sayveon Bumpers on the floor.”