WEST POINT – After trailing by eight points at halftime, West Point’s boys basketball team suddenly found itself with the ball only down two points with 10 seconds left to play against Caledonia on Monday in the first round of the Region 1-5A tournament. Staring at the wrong end of a win-or-go-home scenario, head coach Marquis Burnett called a timeout in the crucial moment to try and draw up the best play he could to tie or take the lead.
Shouts from fans in attendance got louder and louder as the Green Wave took the court and inbounded the ball to Dominick Watts, the man with the hot hand who scored six straight points to get his squad within striking distance, at the top of the key and he charged inside the paint with scoring intentions. His layup couldn’t find the net, but a mad scramble ensued for the rebound and the Green Wave came up with it for another try that clanked off the backboard. West Point managed to put up a few more contested looks at the basket from right below the rim, but none could find the net as the buzzer sounded and Caledonia’s squad raced to the floor in jubilation.
After falling to West Point both times in the regular season, the Cavaliers finally climbed over the Green Wave in a 37-35 triumph that solidified their spot in the Class 5A playoffs. For West Point, the defeat ended its season at 17-9 overall.
“We lost two close games to them and in none of the games we played (against West Point) have we shot the ball well,” Caledonia head coach Mike Jenkins said. “We knew that we were going to have to play good defense tonight to get us a chance because they have an athletic team, and they do a good job playing defense. … I thought we hit the boards, especially the first half. We kept them to one-and-done where they hurt us before with offensive boards. They didn’t hurt us so much tonight, I thought we did a better job boxing out. I’m excited for our kids. Our kids work hard and they deserve this.”
With the season on the line, Burnett said the ball just couldn’t fall for his team.
“It seemed like it was that way all game,” Burnett said. “We missed too many buckets at opportune times.”
Caledonia (8-15) attacked the Green Wave right out of the game and raced out to a 7-0 lead before West Point finally got on the board with just over two minutes left in the first quarter, but the damage of an early shooting slump had already been done. The Cavs kept attacking the basket and picked up fouls along the way and stood tall with a 20-12 advantage at halftime.
“We tried to attack the rim tonight instead of shooting so many 3s, and at least get to the free-throw line,” Jenkins said.
West Point, though, wasn’t interested in giving up and came out of the break into the third quarter hungry for points and initiated an attack on Caledonia’s rim to the tune of a 12-4 run that tied the game at 24-24 with 3:15 left in the quarter. Back-to-back layups by Watts flipped the game and put West Point on top for the first time, 28-26, but the Cavs immediately responded. Chris Blevins drained his second shot from deep of the night to put the Cavs back on top. One free throw by West Point’s Aaron Edwards tied the game again at 35-35 with 2:07 left to play and each side locked down on defense thwarting shot after shot and fighting for the rebounds. Caledonia’s break was delivered by Isaac Williams, who notched a steal and raced down the court for what became the game-winning layup with 22.5 second left.
“I thought our biggest asset was Isaac Williams,” Jenkins said. “He played real well tonight.”
Jenkins finished the game with a team-high 13 points, Blevins was right behind with 12 points and Gary Smart scored seven points. For West Point, Watts led the Green Wave with nine points, and Tyler Nance added seven points.
Caledonia moved on to play No. 1-seeded Columbus yesterday while the Green Wave head to the offseason scratching their heads. Burnett said it’s a tough way to end the season.
“(Our) expectations weren’t met,” Burnett said. “They are supposed to fight, it’s win-or-go-home. They did do that, I just hate it for our seniors.”
Girls basketball
Columbus 39, West Point 27
Though the game’s margin began to narrow late in the contest, Columbus’ girls opening-round was never in doubt Monday as it pulled away for a 39-27 victory in the Region 1-5A tournament over West Point behind a suffocating defense and excellent shooting of Mackenzie Lowery, who finished the game with 17 points.
Kamryn Coats poured in eight of the Falcons’ 10 points in the first quarter for a 10-2 lead and Lowery took over from there by dropping in six points in the second quarter and 10 more in the third to help her team hold a 30-16 lead going into the final frame.
“We always expect Mackenzie to play well and she did,” Columbus head coach Yvonne Hairston said. “She shot the ball well for us, that’s an every-night thing, we look for her to take those shots and she has the green light to shoot them.”
West Point, which ended its season at 12-18 overall, embarked on a late charge in the fourth quarter, led by seven points by Camiyah Bear and four more by Kirsten Perry, but it wasn’t enough to topple the Falcons, who also got four points from Bri’Aisa Simms to close out the game.
“Our district is so tough with the teams that are in that division, and we knew that it was going to be that type of game because I feel that all of us are about 10 points apart from each other,” Hairston said. “I knew it was going to be a scrappy game regardless, then you are playing West Point at home for a put-out game. … I tried to make sure my athletes knew what type of game it was going to be. We didn’t play as well as I would like for us to, but we got the win at the end of the night and that’s the most important thing.”
Coats finished with 10 points, and Simms had four. For West Point, Bear led the way with 15 points, and Perry had nine points. Columbus (11-13) moved on to play Pontotoc yesterday.
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