Enterprise splits Bassfield in pair of OT thrillers
Published 11:45 am Thursday, January 29, 2015
The Enterprise girls and boys played host to the Bassfield Yellow Jackets for a key district matchup on Tuesday night.
Basketball fans got their money’s worth as both teams provided exciting action on the hardwood.
In the varsity girls’ contest, Bassfield escaped with a 50-47 victory in overtime.
In the varsity boys’ game, Enterprise won their second district game in a row as they topped Bassfield 69-67 in a thrilling overtime finish.
Enterprise returns to action on Friday night as they host Amite County for a crucial district game. Varsity girls action will tip-off at 6:00 p.m. followed by the varsity boys game at 7:30.
Bassfield 50, Enterprise 47 (OT)
The Enterprise Lady Jackets came out on target to begin the first quarter as they managed an 11-5 lead after eight minutes of basketball.
In the second quarter of play, the Lady Jackets of Enterprise (13-9, 1-5) continued to take the fight to Bassfield as they claimed a 23-14 advantage going into halftime.
Bassfield came out in the third quarter and applied some second half adjustments to outscore Enterprise 14-6 and cut the deficit to just three points after three quarters of play.
Enterprise senior, Megan Rippy, directed the charge for the Lady Jackets finishing with 16 points.
Bassfield’s Derria White had a game-high 21 points. White’s 9 points in overtime sealed the deal for Bassfield as they narrowly escaped the Jacket’s Nest with a 50-47 win.
Hannah Kirtfield added 7 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists for Enterprise in the loss.
Enterprise 69, Bassfield 67 (OT)
If you thought the girls’ game would’ve been the only competitive one for the evening, you were proved wrong by night’s end. The boys’ contest provided just as much excitement, if not more. Bassfield was the latest victim of Coach John Knight’s Enterprise boys.
After a sluggish third quarter, the Enterprise boys found a spark in the fourth quarter to rally and send the game into overtime in which they would eventually prevail by the final score of 69-67. It was Enterprise’s second district win in a row to send their record to 11-11 for the season.
“I’m really proud of my guys for the fight they showed throughout the entire game, especially being down 10 points in the fourth quarter”, said Enterprise coach John Knight.
In the first quarter, Enterprise picked up where they left off last Friday night as they came out on fire to take a quick 15-4 lead after one quarter of play.
Bassfield found their offensive game in the second quarter as both teams played even with the Yellow Jackets from Enterprise holding a 32-20 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was all Bassfield as they came out and outscored Enterprise 23-10 in the quarter to hold a slim 43-42 advantage after three quarters of action.
Bassfield continued the surge offensively to begin the fourth quarter as they stretched their lead out to ten points midway through, but it was Enterprise who managed to overcome the deficit late.
Dwayne Pendleton knocked down a free throw with 0.4 seconds on the clock to force the game into overtime. Pendleton finished with a game-high 28 points to lead Enterprise in scoring. Jontavious Smith followed suit by pouring in 22 points for the Jackets.
Rakeem Booth powered Bassfield offensively with 17 points.
In the junior varsity girls’ game, Bassfield defeated Enterprise 25-12. Azaria Magee and Erica Booth scored 7 points each to lead the Lady Jackets of Bassfield. Enterprise’s Monisha Pendleton scored 6 points in the loss. Haley Nations and Kayla Ham added 3 points each to the Enterprise total.