Bobcats prevail in OT; Lady Jackets triumph
Published 6:00 am Wednesday, January 17, 2001
Missed free throws can come back to haunt you and it happened tothe host Enterprise Yellow Jackets Tuesday night. The Jacketsmissed a total of 23 free throws and were beaten by the BogueChitto Bobcats 57-53 in overtime in a key Division 7-1A game.
Both teams struggled from the free-throw line. Enterprise madeonly 17 of 40 free throws and Bogue Chitto was 11 of 29 from thecharity stripe. The Bobcats fared a little better missing just 18free throws.
In the varsity girls game, the Lady Jackets pulled away from theLady Bobcats in the fourth quarter to secure an important 48-37victory.
Bogue Chitto 57, Enterprise 53
Bogue Chitto boys basketball coach Theo Black was happy with histeam’s performance to win last night.
“The game was played all the way through,” smiled Black afterthe win. “I am very pleased with the win. We are young. We arestarting to make our move.”
Guard Denard Ferguson provided the spark the Bobcats needed inOT. At the end of regulation, the teams were deadlocked at 46-all.Ferguson scored six points in OT, going 4 of 6 from the charityline and scoring the final basket of the game with no timeremaining.
Enterprise and Bogue Chitto were deadlocked at 53-53 following afree throw from Jacket forward Shermaine Vaughn with 18 secondsleft to play. Ferguson netted his final two free throws for a 55-53edge with 9.9 seconds left; then made a steal for a quick layupwith no time remaining. Bogue Chitto also got a three-pointer fromCarlos Brown and a field goal from Domenick Addison in OT.
The game was close throughout regulation. With 7.7 left in thefourth quarter, Vaughn went 1-for-2 to give Enterprise a 46-45advantage. Ferguson missed his first free throw but nailed thesecond one to tie the game at 46-all and force the overtime.
“We missed the free throws,” said Enterprise coach Billy Vaughn.”We had 35 turnovers and we missed 23 free throws. We were lucky tobe in the ball game.”
Ferguson was the high scorer of the game with 25 points, scoring10 points for the Bobcats in the the fourth quarter. Marc Howardfired in 14 points. Addison led off the backboards with ninerebounds. Tradell Black collected six rebounds. Darrin Dunnfollowed with five rebounds.
For the Jackets, Rufus Allen led the way with 18 points. Vaughnfinished with 15 points, 13 rebounds and two assists. Kary Brownscored 12 points, pulled down seven rebounds and had two assists.Billy Reeves made two steals.
Bogue Chitto improved to 7-11 overall and 4-3 in division play.Enterprise fell to 6-8 on the season and 3-5 in divisionaction.
Enterprise 48, Bogue Chitto 37
The Lady Jackets (9-6, 5-3) owned the first and fourth quarters.Enterprise dominated the backboards and led 9-3 over Bogue Chitto(13-4, 6-1) at the end of the first quarter. A pair of threepointers from guard Randi Moak and a trey from Jerrica McGary inthe second quarter sparked the Lady Bobcats who closed the deficitto 18-17 at the half.
In the third quarter, the Lady Bobcats took the lead at 22-21 onanother three pointer from Melton with 4:31 on the clock. Anotherthree-pointer from Moak pushed the Bogue Chitto lead to 29-25 with1:13 left. Enterprise forward Lacey Palomarez produced athree-point play in the final 41 seconds to cut the deficit to onepoint, 29-28.
Fourth quarter action saw Enterprise outscore Bogue Chitto 20-8to nail down the division win. The Lady Jackets went on an 8-0 runat the start of the final frame to take a 36-29 lead with 5:28remaining.
“Enterprise got the momentum in the fourth quarter,” said BogueChitto girls coach Mickey Myers. “They have a talented team. LaceyPalomarez is outstanding. Enterprise had a good supportingcast.”
Palomarez directed Enterprise with 20 points and four assists.Monica Leggett followed with 11 points, four steals and threeassists. Monica Leggett led off the backboards with 12 rebounds andthree steals. Candice Spraggins pulled down eight rebounds. RobertaJohnson followed with seven rebounds. Joyce Allen had four assistsand five steals.
“We had to keep then off the offensive boards,” said CoachVaughn. “We did a good job doing that. We made some plays in thefourth quarter we hadn’t been doing.”
Bogue Chitto got 13 points, five rebounds, four steals and fourassists from Moak. McGary netted 12 points. Ten points and fourassists were made by Jessica Melton. Yolanda Drummond grabbed fiverebounds.
Junior High Results
The Bogue Chitto girls nipped Enterprise 13-12. Kia Porter ledthe Lady Bobcats with six points. Netting six points for the 0-5Lady Jackets was Nikki Leggett.
The Bogue Chitto girls face Loyd Star tonight in the openinground of the Brookhaven Coca-Cola Invitational Tournament. Gametime is 8 p.m. The Bogue Chitto boys face Hazlehurst Thursday at6:30.
Enterprise hosts division rival Salem Friday night.