VARSITY
BOYS Southside-Selma 78, St. James (19-7) 73
Score by quarters: S S
17 16
20 25 78
STJ 20
12 17
24 73
STJ Scorers:
Nelson 23, Mills 19, Roberts 17, Ward 9, Kirkland 3, Gibson 2
S S Scorers: Anderson
29, Williams 18, Watters 17, Watts 5, Tyus 4, J. Washington 3, Hardy 2
STJ 3 Pointers: Mills (5),
Kirkland (1)
FT (team):
9 of 14 (64.3%)
St. James ran into the deadly basket penetration of Southside-Selma's
Jeffrey Anderson as he pierced the
Panther nets for 29 points, 21 in the second half, as the Trojans'
season ended one step from the regionals
in a 78-73 home loss. The entire game was close, with neither
team having a bigger lead than 9 points, which
the Panthers built up in the last minute of play. Matt Ward's
three point play at the beginning of the second
quarter gave the Trojans a 6 point lead at 23-17 which would be their
largest. The Panthers would score 14 of
the next 18 points, and would lead by just one at halftime. The
Trojans hung tough with Taylor Nelson and
Chris Roberts repeatedly driving to the basket for close shots when
they could break the game-long tenacious
Panther press. However, when they could not, it was usually
Anderson or Fontano Watters returning the favor
for Southside. Roberts gave the Trojans their final lead of the
season making it 65-64 with 2 minutes remaining.
Southside pushed the lead back to two their way, and a crucial call at
a crucial time benefited them, as a timeout
was called just an instance before a kicked ball backcourt would have
turned the ball back to St. James. From
there, Anderson, Watters, and Deonta Williams turned up the pressure to
give the Panthers their 9 point lead.
Adam Mills hit two three pointers to cut the lead to 76-73 with 15
seconds remaining, but Southside made one
freethrow on each of their next two trips without permitting the
Trojans a shot to perhaps tie or win. The varsity
boys team did tie the school record for most wins by a varsity boys'
team, with 19 on the season.