By Tony Burns
Sports Editor
FORDYCE – Junction City used a 13-3 run in the third quarter to build a cushion and pulled away to a 72-63 win over Hampton Friday in the boys third place game of the 8-2A District Tournament. The Dragons improved to 14-8 while the Bulldogs slid to 16-14.
Jerrodney Tubbs led Junction City with 20 points, including eight in the third quarter. Devontay Gilbert contributed 11 points with Charles Hoof adding 10. Zak Brown and Dhante Gibson chipped in with eight and seven, respectively.
“I thought we had contributions from a lot of different people. I looked in the second quarter and thought we had about seven guys score. It was a great team effort,” said Junction City coach Kendall Hutcheson. “We finished up with around 15, 16 turnovers, which is not great. But, it's about eight or nine off of what we'd been having. That's our goal, stop silly turnovers. We did a much better job of taking care of the ball tonight. That was very important for us.”
Brown, a sophomore point guard, scored all eight of his points in the final three minutes and also had a key steal down the stretch.
“He was struggling with his shot tonight. He didn't have a lot of confidence with his 3-point shot. I just told him to keep shooting, shoot it with confidence. He made some free throws late,” Hutcheson said. “I thought Devontay Gilbert really stepped up and made some big plays for us. He's our best defender but he gave us a lot of offense tonight. When he does that, it makes us really tough.”
The Dragons led 34-28 at the half and were up 36-33 midway in the third. Gilbert hit two at the line and Hoof scored five straight points on two offensive putbacks and a free throw. Jihad Junior converted a three-point play for Hampton but Gilbert retaliated for Junction City, followed by back-to-back buckets from Tubbs.
The Dragons led 53-41 going into the fourth. The Bulldogs pulled to within 60-56 midway in the final period. Jaylon Jones sparked an 8-0 run with three straight baskets. But, Brown scored six points in a decisive 8-0 spurt down the stretch for Junction City.
Jones led Hampton with 23 points with Junior adding 18.
WOODLAWN 25,
Parkers Chapel 24
FORDYCE - Woodlawn's Peyton Penland hit a free throw with 6.8 seconds left to lift the Lady Bears to a third-place victory over the Lady Trojans on Friday in the 8-2A District Tournament. Parkers Chapel's Ali Looney drove to the basket but her left-hand lay-up under pressure would not fall at the buzzer.
The Lady Trojans shot 8-of-17 at the line in the game, including 4-of-10 in the fourth quarter. That included two misses on 1-and-1 opportunities.
PC led 24-21 before Penland hit a 3-pointer with 2:10 remaining to tie the game. The Lady Bears got the ball back on a turnover. The Lady Trojans, who had committed just four fouls in the half, deflected a pass under the Woodlawn basket. The ball went to the floor, where Penland ended up with it and was fouled while attempting a shot. She missed the first free throw but netted the second.
“We had fouls to give. Basically our strategy was, I told them if they're going to penetrate, before they get a shot off, we're going to foul 'em. That way, we'd build a wall around that goal,” said Parkers Chapel coach Justin Welch. “At the end of the day, I made a decision and it didn't work out. Unfortunately, they called a foul right there. I don't know. But, if we make our free throws. That's what I told them. It shouldn't have come down to that call. It would've been a non-factor if we hit the majority of our free throws.”
It was a cold-day all-around for the Lady Trojans, who were playing their fourth game in as many days. PC led 10-8 at the half and 16-12 going into the fourth.
Woodlawn, which was 1-of-2 at the line in the game, had nine total field goals, with five of them coming from beyond the 3-point arc. Four of those threes came in the fourth quarter.
Makenzie Lasiter led the Lady Bears with nine.
Taylor Fortune and Kamryn Cross scored eight apiece to pace PC.
“We have played four days in a row. We've been making an hour trip every day. Not a single time have those girls complained. They haven't moaned and groaned. They've done everything I've asked them to do and that makes me happy,” said Welch. “That makes me proud of them. I know they have that fighting spirit. I am extremely proud of the effort.”